TFIF...Thank Frog It's Friday! I've had a very busy and stressful week and I am so happy that the weekend is just around the corner. After having a difficult few days, I like to indulge myself with a few simple luxuries...an extra glass of swamp juice and, perhaps, a second portion of big,fat flies. It's good to treat ourselves with kindness. We are, after all, VIF's...very important frogs. I believe that you humans need to be kind to yourself, too. It's always so much easier, it seems, to take care of others and to put ourselves on the back burne, but that it's necessarily a good thing. It's a healthy habit to treat ourselves well, and one that's well worth cultivating. That doesn't mean spending loads of money on things you can't really afford...keeping up with the Jones, so-to-speak. No, it'more about taking time every day to appreciate life; not to only unwind, but to recharge our inner batteries. Whether it's watching a favorite film, reading an inspiring passage from a loved book, or listening to your favorite music while soaking in a relaxing bath. And did I mention chocolate? That, too, can be a luxurious treat at the end of a busy day. These are just a few ways that you can show yourself that you care...that you do matter. If we don't take good care of ourselves, then we can't take good care of the ones we love. How will you treat yourself to a few moments of luxury this weekend? Whatever you choose, take time and enjoy the experience. Now it's time for me to go catch those fat flies...yum! See you back here on Monday!
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Ever notice how on some days you feel like you can do anything? Wouldn't you like to have that feeling every single day? I know I would. It's a fact that you can. No. Not with an over-inflated sense of self or by bullying others into submission. No brute force is required. It can be achieved, however, with calmness and a quiet, deep belief that we are all that we have all that we need to be great. Yes. We are all born super heroes. But, as life goes along, some of us lose our "edge" while other go on to continue great things. But it isn't luck, really, that determines our greatness; it's our sense of self. Some of our greatest super heroes have never worn a red cape or "hopped" over buildings in a single bound. Ghandi and Martin Luther King are great examples of this. But there are others, too; ones that are far less well-known. Like your neighborhood volunteer fireman who puts his life on the line for no pay. He does it because he has a desire to help others. Or the woman who, on her way to work, stops traffic to rescue a dog that's sitting in the road, scared and lost. We can all be these super heros. It's not difficult. And we needn't look very far. There are countless opportunities every single day, right in our own "backyards", to be a super hero. You know it's within you so why not just do it; do it without thinking. Take the risk. Find somebody (or something) today that needs your help. Maybe all they need is a smile and a sympathetic ear. It doesn't have to be a grand gesture. But, at the end of the day, you will have been their super hero. I like knowing that I have these super powers...they make me smile. They give me a sense of being powerful and necessary in an often shaky and uncertain world. So go Fly Fearless today. Superman didn't have to think whether or not he had the time...or ability to help someone in trouble. He just did it. You can, too!
Deep-dive listening is probably a term that's new to you. As a frog, I know a little about deep diving but, until recently, I didn't know anything about diving and listening. What could one possibly have to do with the other? A lot, I found out. Have you ever talked to someone and wondered, after the conversation was over, if they'd heard anything you said? I think we all feel that way, more often than we'd like. Frogs and humans, too, seem to have problems listening...I mean really listening. We're all so busy that our minds can't concentrate on just one thing anymore. While we're listening to you talk, we're mentally writing our grocery list, and trying to figure out how to make time to get the kids picked up after soccer practice. We might get the gist of what you're saying but we certainly haven't felt what you were feeling...what you were trying to convey. Deep-dive listening is total-immersion, empathic listening; really diving deep into the heart of the conversation. Instead of hearing only what we want to hear, or hearing with a filter on, we can deeply listen to everyone; even those whose opinions vary greatly from our own. Instead of shutting them down by telling them how wrong they are, we can listen with our hearts as well as our ears, and try to see things from their perspective. Instead of "preaching" and trying to convert others that they should go along with us, we can learn to ask intelligent questions. The results of deep-dive listening will surprise you. We might even learn something by keeping quiet. It's difficult to do deep-dive listening; we don't have the experience but with practice, we can learn to listen this way...not once in awhile but all the time. You'll find yourself seeing others in a whole new and more compassionate way. And wouldn't that be wonderful?
The French have a term for it; mis en place. Literally, this term means to put in place. Every good cook knows that the best way to have success with any recipe, is to do the prep work first. Gathering together all the ingredients and carefully cutting them up, measuring them out, or simply having them readily available is key in preparing any dish, no matter how simple or how elaborat it might be. But what happens if you find you're missing an ingredient? The accomplished chef will take the items he does have, add in a few "surprise" elements and...Voilà! He creates something new and exciting. That is how many of the great dishes came to be. That same "miracle" can occur with writing...as well as life. When a writer has an idea, his first task should be to organized his thoughts into an outline of how the story will unfold, complete with characters and basic details; a kind of writer's mis en place, if you will. If, part way through the outline, the writer realizes that the storyline won't work, he's faced with two choices; scrapping it and coming up an another idea or, figuring out a way to make the story work. We've all heard the sage advice, "If life hands you lemons, make lemonade." And that's the mis en place for living life; you organize your life the way you want it to be, but it you find that something is missing...or your story isn't working out the way you dreamed, then take what you do have and create something new, exciting and, dare I say, even better than your original recipe. Perhaps not everyone will think it's spendid, but that's OK. It'll be your masterpiece and perfect for you. Happy Cooking...whatever your recipe!
When I was a tadpole, I knew I wanted to be a writer. But I also wanted to be an astronaught, a detective, and a firefrog. As youngsters, we have all sorts of dreams about what we want to be when we grow up. Yet, many adults aren't living out any of their childhood aspirations. They find themselves in jobs they don't much like; job that that pay the bills but don't fulfill any deep-rooted needs or longings. Why is that? Fear is a big part of it. And time. And obligations. There are so many reasons NOT to do what we love and, perhaps, were actually meant to do. I, for one, think it's never too late to start over. Even if it's just taking one class. Just because you have an interest in a particular subject or career, doesn't mean you have to chuck everything and hop in with both flippers! First, just test the waters. You may find out it isn't as great as you once thought, or maybe it's something you want to dabble in, like art, and not take it on as a full-time career. But then again, maybe you'll find that it's the perfect fit and something you're really good at...a dream come true, so to speak. Take me for example. I wanted to be a firefrog when I grew up. So, the other day, I contacted the local fire department and asked them if I could tag along for a day. They agreed and I spent an entire day doing what I thought I wanted to do as a young tadpole. Guess what? I had tons of fun but found out that I'm not well-suited to the life, at least as a full-time job. I am much happier sitting at my computer and writing. But what if I hadn't "tried it on for size"? I might have wondered my whole life what I had missed out on by writing and not fighting fires. It was a great opportunity and one I'll never regret. Go ahead and take a risk. Try living out one of your childhood fantasies. You might not actually get to go into outer space, like an astronaught, but you can read about it, or take a class in astonomy. You'll learn something new...and that's always good and, I bet, you'll have a little fun while you're at it and you'll feel like a kid again.
This weekend, the family and I are hopping over to one of our local farms. It's an annual fall tradition and one that we look forward to. This farm has it all; an orchard where fresh cider is squeezed right before your eyes, piles of beautifully-colored leaves to jump in and, best of all, a HUGE pumpkin patch for children to find the perfect pumpkin for their Halloween jack-o-lantern masterpiece. This is a great time of year to be outdoors. The sun is bright, and the sky is cyrstal clear; the cool, crisp air becons everyone to act like a kid again and enjoy the bounty of nature without any cares or worries. We'll have a picnic lunch to go accompany that delightful, tangy-sweet cider. Mom will pick apples for a pie and Dad will, I'm sure, take lots of photos for the family album. It's going to be an amazing day and I just can't wait. I hope that each of you will have the opportunity to visit such a place sometime this fall, and share quality time with your family while harvesting the many of the joys this wonderful season has to offer. See you on Monday!
.Remember when you were studying to get your driver's license and the little handbook you had to learn for the driver's test? The booklet contained the rules of the road...all the things you needed to know to become a safe and courteous driver. Wouldn't it be great if life came with that same kind of guide? It would be the first book every little child learned to read. These rules would become ingrained in us and we would live them every day. But, alas, there is no such book. Humans have the Golden Rule and most religions have "laws" but the books that contain the details aren't universally read. And they can be a little difficult to understand and open to one's own interpretation. The book I'm thinking of would be simple, straighforwards, and issued to everyone on earth. My mother came up with something similar, back when I was growing up. Her rules on How to Behave in the Swamp are a combination of polite manners and moral codes on how to treat others. My little brother and I, along with all of our cousins, live each day by these rules. But even without a formal guide, it's pretty easy to come up with your own eight or ten guiding principles by which you live your life. And the first rule on everyone's list should be, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." I mean, wouldn't it be great it that rule/law/code just came naturally to everyone? We'd all be in living in a far nicer world, that's for certain. You might want to spend a little time today contemplating what rules would be in your book, if you were to write the Rules of the Road for a Happy Journey Through Life. Happy driving!
Each day, many of us try to be better than we were the day before. Maybe yesterday, we lost our temper with the kids, or honked the horn furiously when we were stuck in traffic but, we promise ourselves, that tomorrow we will be better, kinder, and more compassionate of those around us. But soon, tomorrow becomes today and not much has changed. Self-regulation is difficult. If it weren't, the world would be a better place all around and no one would ever have to say, "Hind site is 20/20." We'd have nothing to regret. But that's not our reality. We live in a world of constant distractions and confusion, and we find our lives filled with small, irritating situations that we can't control. The Dharma Frog, who always give us great advice, said just today, "A closed mouth gathers no flippers." How true that is; thinking before speaking or reacting is crucial for change. We can't possible hope to change the world if we don't first change ourselves. Today, I am going to do a better job of monitoring myself, both in thoughts and in actions. It'll a struggle. I know I'll have to remind myself of this every single morning....it's easy to slip back into old ways. Change, no matter how little it seems, is hard; each small change we make for the better, though, results in bigger changes happening globally. Like attracts like. So think before you speak, or react, and keep your flippers...or feet...out of your mouth. As I retire each night, I want to go to sleep knowing that I've done today something that my future self will thank me for. And, perhaps, you might thank me, too!
Normally, I'm a prettry organized frog but there are days, like today, when all of my planning just seems to go out the window. After a restful night, I was late getting up and tidying around the ol' lily pad, putting my normal reoutine a bit behind schedule. After my morning gulp of swamp juice and catching a few bugs for breakfast, I thought that I was caught up and could get myself back on-track. Boy Howdy... was I ever wrong! The phone started ringing and about the same time, I got a Skype call from overseas. Then, a friend dropped by unexpectedly for a visit and neighbors were making such a racket that I couldn't hear myself think. All of my previously scheduled projects and time schedule just fell by the wayside. I felt a little overwhelmed, like I was hopping around in circles. But then the activity stopped and all of a sudden, I could hear the silence. It was deafening. So how did I get myself back on schedule? I didn't. I did nothing. I let all of the information overload from the morning seep in, then I fixed myself a nice cup of tea and just sat. After I had rested and regrouped, as they say, I took a look at my to-do list. I had been worrying and fretting about nothing; there was absolutely nothing urgent or necessary on that paper. Nothing that couldn't easily be rescheduled. I breathed a big sigh of relief. I prioritized a few things and then set about the rest of my day at a much more leisurely pace. The lesson learned is this: schedules are meant to change. They're not set in stone and it's OK to let disruptions happen without freaking out. We all get so caught up in our lives that we sometimes forget that living live is what's most important. The world didn't come to a screeching halt because I didn't get this blog posted as early as I like to or becauseI was late signing in to my online class. Being OK with whatever happens...going with the flow...makes life infinitely easier. Stress and worry are difficult, time-consuming, and accomplish nothing constructive. So the next time you have a hectic day and your projects don't get completed, remember that it's OK to sit there, relax for a bit and pick up where you left off. As the Dharma Frog is fond of saying..."Don't just sit there, do nothing."
The Amphibi-Network has asked me to be in a reality show about my life as the Land of Lily Pad's first author. I'm honored, on the one-flipper, and a bit skeptical on the other.
Reality TV has come under a lot of criticism recently with concerns that the"reality" shown in these shows might not be as "real" as they'd like you to believe. I've watched a few reality shows on human TV and they do seem a bit fake to me. The situations don't seem real and some of the diaglogue does, in fact, sound pretty scripted. All of this makes me wonder whether or not I should take part in this genre of TV programming. Do I wish I was a famous author with book signings and big-money contracts? Sure. I don't know of a writer who doesn't want at least a little fame and fortune...but my true reality is that I'm a struggling author, self-published, just trying to eek out a living while hoping to get kids interested in reading my books. To tell-the-truth, I don't really think that the public would have much interest in watching my day-to-day life unfold. Some days it's pretty unremarkable. Perhaps when my fantasy life becomes reality, then I'll consider doing real TV. Until then, I'm just a writer who loves what I do..whether or not I ever become famous. I believe that I am already successful because I get to start each Monday morning fresh, doing what makes me happy. And that's enough for me. Have a great week! |
AuthorLand of Lily Pad's first published author. I enjoy writing fun and educational books for kids. My blog is for you parents; the kiddos might like some of them, too. As always, everything I write is family-friendly, so don't hesitate to share my messages with everyone. I hope you find them helpful and maybe even inspirational. Cheers! Archives
November 2019
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