Spiritual Sunday- The Turtle & Scorpion

I remember hearing the following story when I was a young girl.  It had a great impact on me , perhaps because of the way the meaning of the story was explained to me.  I have researched a little and it seems that most people believe that it is meant to serve as a warning to not trust everyone. 

Why don't you have a read and see what you think the "life lesson" is for YOU!  (I have posted how I was taught to interrupt this story at the end of the post.)

The Turtle and The Scorpion...

A turtle was happily swimming along a river when a scorpion hailed it from the shore.
A scorpion, being a very poor swimmer, asked a turtle to carry him on his back across a river. "Are you mad?" exclaimed the turtle. "You'll sting me while I'm swimming and I'll drown."
"My dear turtle," laughed the scorpion, "if I were to sting you, you would drown and I would go down with you, and drown as well. Now where is the logic in that?"
The turtle thought this over, and saw the logic of the scorpion's statement. "You're right!" cried the turtle. "Hop on!" The scorpion climbed aboard and halfway across the river the scorpion gave the turtle a mighty sting. As they both sank to the bottom, the turtle resignedly said:
"Do you mind if I ask you something? You said there'd be no logic in your stinging me. Why did you do it?"
"It has nothing to do with logic," the drowning scorpion sadly replied. "It's just my character."

How The Meaning was Explained To Me:
Do not live your life not trusting mankind.  It can be risky to take someone at his/her word but that may be all  they have.  Unfortunately, they might disappoint you but that's better than always being "skeptical".  More importantly, it may not be in all "Scorpions Character" therefore stereotypes should be challenged and that's the only way we can be the change we want to see in the world.

The lighter side of this story- I remember saying "But the turtle died." Apparently, the story wasn't completed...the turtle and the scorpion both lived.  Being the inquisitive person I was, I asked, "So then, the turtle should give the Scorpion another chance?" 

That's when I learned the life lesson "Fool me once, shame on you!  Fool me twice, shame on me!" :)