Maria Arpa
Maria’s Midweek Mindfulness Moments
Dear All,
As Maria and her family spend the last few days with her mum, I’ve stepped in to write a short guest blog. The blog theme is about tackling those difficult moments and tasks that we all face from time to time.
Eat the Frog, by Bev Porrino
Mark Twain is reported to have said that if the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you can go through the day with the satisfaction of knowing that that is probably the worst thing that is going to happen to you all day long.
Some frogs are larger than others, but all frogs leave us with a similar feeling, and that is, we would rather not deal with the wriggling thing at all.
The urge to put off those difficult tasks until later is seductive. Even though you know that the task will silently roar at you from the recesses of your practical mind, you will be compelled to do everything except the thing that will set you free.
When facing a day that presents an unwelcome challenge it can be useful to step back to be an observer for a moment. If you play out the problem in your mind, like a storyboard or a silent movie, you can often see a way through.
From experience, it’s never wise to plough in just to get the job done because although the message of ‘eat the frog’ is useful, difficult tasks and conversations require a plan.
The next time you get the urge to put something off, try to look at the task in sections. Break it down, identify which part of the task you are avoiding in particular. Question the motive behind the pull to procrastinate. Where do your emotions sit? If you take a moment or two to acknowledge these elements the task often becomes less daunting.
As they say, simplicity in the effort will conquer the most complex of tasks.
I wonder, how will you eat your frogs this week?
Be strong, stretched and centred. Bev
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