“We Are Not Who We Think We Are”

“We Are Not Who We Think We Are”

One day, a scorpion looked around the mountain where he lived and decided that he wanted a change. So he set out on a journey through the forests and hills. He climbed over rocks and under vines and kept going until he reached near a river.The river was wide and swift, the scorpion stopped to reconsider the situation, he couldn't see any way across, so he ran upriver and then checked downriver, all the while thinking that he might have to turn back. Suddenly, he saw a frog sitting in the rushes by the bank of the stream on the other side of the river. He decided to ask the frog for help to get across the stream.

“Hello Mr. Frog!” called the scorpion to the frog, “Would you be so kind enough to give me a ride on your back to cross the river?”

“Well, Mr. Scorpion! Why should I do that? How do I know that if I try to help you, you won’t try to kill me?” questioned the frog hesitantly.

“Because,” the scorpion replied, “If I try to kill you, then I would die too, as I cannot swim!”

Now this seemed to make sense to the frog. But he asked. “What about when we get close to the bank? You could still try to kill me and get back to the shore!”

“This is true,” agreed the scorpion, “But then I wouldn't be able to get to the other side of the river!”

“Alright then...how do I know you won’t just wait till we get to the other side and THEN kill me?” said the frog.

“Ahh...,” crooned the scorpion, “Because you see, once you've taken me to the other side of this river, I will be so grateful for your help, that it would hardly be fair to reward you with death, now would it?!”

So the frog agreed to take the scorpion across the river. He swam over to the bank and settled himself near the mud to pick up his passenger. The scorpion crawled onto the frog's back, his sharp claws prickling into the frog's soft hide, and the frog slid into the river. The muddy water swirled around them, but the frog stayed near the surface so the scorpion would not drown. He kicked strongly through the first half of the stream, his flippers paddling wildly against the current.

Halfway across the river, the frog suddenly felt a sharp sting in his back and, out of the corner of his eye, saw the scorpion remove his stinger from the frog's back. A deadening numbness began to creep into his limbs.

“You fool!” croaked the frog, “Now we shall both die! Why on earth did you do that?”

The scorpion shrugged, and did a little jig on the drowning frog's back.

“I could not help myself. It is my nature.”

Then they both sank into the muddy waters of the swiftly flowing river.

Self-destruction - “It’s my Nature”, said the Scorpion...

This story reflects the unchangeable and static nature of the scorpion who is dominated by his reflexes and has no control over them.

On reaching a certain age, most of us are forced to think that we are just the same and cannot change, and won't even try to change!  But where a scorpion was unable to control over his reflexes, whereas we do have choices.  We do not have to be the way what we think we are; we can actually be and may act differently.  “The great revolution in our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can transform the outer aspects of their lives” was once said by a well-known philosopher.

We can think and can distinguish between the right and the wrong, good and bad etc. So to look differently from each other and to be healthier and happy, we have to change at every step of life as the circumstances demand for o it -- the grass is always green but it looks to be much greener elsewhere.  Similarly if we want a change in the world where everyone is living without the fear of losing one‘s own identity, where the women are not abused, there is less violence and reduction in the poverty percentage too, then a reformation at all levels of life is always a must.

Nothing should be so powerful to stop us from changing?  What keeps us locked in ourselves is the view that how we understand the situation?  Invariably, it is our ego, the most talked-about and still the least understood of a very common human features.  The ego gives us a strong sense of ourselves; it is the “me” part.  This is neither good nor bad, except when self-centeredness dominates our thoughts, feelings, and perceptions of life.  A positive sense of our own self gives us confidence and a purpose, but the more negative and selfish aspect of the ego makes us unconcerned with other people's feelings; it thrives on the idea of me-first and impels us to cry out, “What about me?  What about my feelings?” “Why only me?” etc.

It can appear relatively simple to make changes in the world, while making changes in our own lives can seem far more overwhelming.  It requires courage to move from a familiar and known place to the one that is different for this means stepping outside of our usual comfort zone. People won’t change their nature and they can’t help it. We ourselves have to move on carefully so that no one can ever stab us on our back.

One best thing about people is predictability for they are just like scorpions, doing what they are used to do, even if it causes them harm. Sometimes they don’t think, sometimes they can’t help it. So believe your own instincts and don’t let yourself be talked into something you don’t think is a good idea, else others will stab you on the back whenever you give them a chance to do so.  To re-establish ourselves once again it is the biggest fight with our own individuality. If we refuse to change, we ourselves are the cause of our own destruction, because no one waits for anyone and life moves on and on leaving you behind.

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