The Two Frogs and the Milk Churn

Two frogs, hopping carelessly near a dairy, fell together into a deep pail of fresh milk, its sides far too tall and slick for either to climb out. Both swam desperately at first, but as exhaustion set in, one frog declared it was hopeless, that no amount of struggling could save them, and stopped swimming entirely, resigned to his fate.

The second frog, stubborn by nature, refused to accept defeat regardless of how hopeless it appeared, and kept kicking and paddling with everything he had left, even as his companion sank beneath the milk beside him.

Unknown to the exhausted frog, his continuous, desperate kicking had been steadily churning the liquid milk around him, and after what felt like an eternity, the milk beneath his paddling legs solidified into a firm, floating clump of butter. Standing at last on this solid platform, he hopped free of the pail entirely — saved not by any special strength, but simply by refusing to stop when everything seemed lost, right up until the moment his own persistence quietly created the very solution he needed.