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Fear of Poor Decision Outcomes

Ever hear the story about the frog that fell into a deep rut in the road and, tries as he might, he could not get out? 

Mrs. Frog, standing above the rut, admonished, cajoled, beckoned, and belittled him to no avail.

“Get out, come on, let’s go,” she pleaded.

But Mr. Frog, down in the deep rut, said simply, “There is no way I can get out of this rut.”

Leaving him there, Mrs. Frog hopped down to the pond and, in a few minutes, Mr. Frog appeared beside her on their favorite lily pad.

“I thought you said you couldn’t get out,” she exclaimed.

He responded, “A big truck came along, and I had to.”

Sometimes our fears paralyze us to the point that we cannot decide anything. 

This is represented by the philosophical concept referred to as “Buridan’s Ass,” which states that, given the option of two equally wonderful piles of hay, the ass will starve to death, because it cannot choose.

Sometimes we resign ourselves to the fact that we will never be able to do, or be, or have whatever it is we need or want. 

And sometimes, like Mr. Frog, we are forced to make a decision, whether it is the one we want to make or not. 

We let other people or our circumstances dictate our decisions, rather than depending upon our inner voice to help us.