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It Matters Whom We Hang With

 June 13, 2006

"Centuries ago, the slave Aesop penned a fable about a mouse who always lived on the land.  By an unlucky chance, this mouse formed an intimate acquaintance with a frog that lived, for the most part in the water.

One day the frog was intent on mischief.  He tied the foot of the mouse tightly to his own.  Thus joined together, the frog led his friend the mouse to the meadow where they usually searched for food.  Gradually, the frog led the mouse toward the pond in which he lived.  Then, upon reaching the banks of the water, the frog suddenly jumped in, dragging the mouse with him.

Enjoying the water immensely, the frog swam croaking about as if he had done a good deed.  The unhappy mouse soon sputtered and drowned, his poor dead body floating about on the surface.

A hawk observed the floating mouse from the sky and dived down and grabbed it with his talons, carrying it back to his nest.  The frog, still fastened to the leg of the mouse, was also carried off a prisoner and was eaten by the hawk.

The moral:  It is important to choose wisely those whom you associate with.  The wrong person will lead you down the wrong path … or into the wrong pond.  Unfortunately, those of us not equipped to swim will inevitably drown (Cottrell, 2005, p. 37-38)."

Reference:  Cottrell, D. (2005).  12 choices…that lead to your success.  Dallas:  CornerStone Leadership Institute.

12 Choices is available on loan from the Ohio State University Leadership Center.  To borrow this resource or any other resource, please go to the resource search page http://164.107.48.88/winnebago/index.asp?lib=???

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Created: 2008-04-01, Updated: 2009-04-10