Eating a Frog
- Updated Feb 17, 2011
A few days ago my friend Paul Ward shared a bit of wisdom with me. In the course of a conversation about how some things are hard to do, he shared something that Zig Ziglar told him a few years ago.
"If you've got to eat a frog, looking at it doesn't make it any better."
That's certainly true in the literal sense. Looking at a frog makes it worse in my opinion.
But the deeper meaning is also true. In life we all have to do unpleasant things from time to time: make a tough decision, say no to a friend, turn down a proposal, confront sinful behavior, have a difficult conversation, tackle a hard problem, talk to people we know will disagree with us. Sometimes we have to do hard things that we know will disappoint our friends.
That's like eating a frog. It's no fun, no one likes it, and it's never easy.
But looking at it doesn't make it any easier. Sometimes we put off a hard phone call precisely because we know it won't go well. Putting it off usually makes it worse.
Zig Ziglar is right-about frogs and about life.
Do the hard thing and get on with your day. Eat the frog and move on.
You can reach the author at ray@keepbelieving.com. Click here to sign up for the free weekly email sermon.