井底之蛙 jĭng dĭ zhī wā - The frog in the well
or, "Our limited outlook."
Once upon a time there was a frog that lived in a shallow well. One day a sea turtle came to visit this frog. The frog was excited to tell the turtle about his amazing life. "I am extremely happy!" the frog exclaimed to the turtle.
The frog went on to talk about how great his life was. "When I'm on the ground I can hop onto the rim of the well. When I am tired I can rest on the broken bricks. While I am in the water I can swim with only my head above the water. Sometimes I bury my feet in the mud and look at the worms and tadpoles who also live in my well. They can't be nearly as happy as me! They can't hop and see and experience all the things I can."
The frog went on, "You really should come and visit me."
So the sea turtle went with the frog to his well. Upon entering the well his foot got snagged and he couldn't enter. The turtle decided not to enter the well after all and slowly walked away while saying, " I can't tell you how big the sea is. It is far beyond measure." The turtle continued. "When it floods the sea doesn't increase its depth and when there is a drought it doesn't make it lose an inch." "Its depth doesn't change with time nor with the amount of rain." The sea turtle finished, "No one knows real happiness until they have experience the great sea."
At this remark the frog realized how little he knew of the world and that it was a much bigger place than he thought.
Although I do applaud the frog in being content in its situation, we have to be careful to not our view of reality is the same as everyone else.
Get out of your well and experience the world, change your worldview! You will be surprised how big this world can be.
