A crocodile and a monkey became unlikely friends, meeting daily by the river. The crocodile's wife, jealous, demanded the monkey's heart as medicine. The crocodile lured his friend mid-river — but the monkey kept his wits: "My heart is back in the tree! Take me back and I'll fetch it." He escaped and never returned.
Flattery that demands your heart in return is not friendship — it is predation wearing a smile. True alliances do not require you to surrender what is essential to who you are.
Is there a relationship in your life where the cost of maintaining it is slowly becoming your own integrity or wellbeing?
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