A few years ago, I recognized that the way I lived life was not idea. However, I had trouble giving up my flawed approach. Taking a leaf from Einstein, I recognized that living the same way and expecting positive changes from life was a flavor of insanity.
I effected some changes. I started reading non-fiction books. I
I developed a positive addiction: I craved life lessons.
That’s right — I’m a proud life lessons addict.
With that background, here are some life lessons I gleaned from our amphibian friend, the toad.
The toad can live in water and land.
This is a superpower. The toad can reap the advantages that both the land and water offer.
Scott Adams, the creator of the comic strip Dilbert, advices people to build a talent stack. He says that combining normal skills can yield extraordinary results.
Adams himself succeeded as a result of building a talent stack.
When you add in my ordinary business skills, my strong work ethic, my risk tolerance, and my reasonably good sense of humor, I’m fairly unique. And in this case that uniqueness has commercial value.Scott Adams
Building multiple strengths has an unspoken advantage: flexibility. The toad, for example, can hide in the water when a predator is prowling the land.
There are some activities in life which have intangible upsides and zero downsides. Building a talent stack is one of them.
The toad is uglier than ten Shreks joined together.
What about his voice? Well, let’s just say that the toad will not be selected for American Idol anytime soon.
Does the toad appearance and voice give him an inferiority complex? Does he shut himself in his bedroom wallowing with pity?
On the contrary. On a rainy night, you can hear loud ribbits near any water front. The frog confidently announces his presence to the world. He doesn’t subscribe to People magazine and envy the six packs of the models. And his wife doesn’t develop eating disorders upon seeing all the beauty queens on the cover of Cosmopolitan or Vogue. The toad family does not spend their paycheck on beauty products to alter their natural look. And they don’t waste their breath envying the good looks of the peacock.
They toad is proud of his god-given identity and sings and dances in the rains without worrying about what “other people will think.”
A group of frogs participated in a competition to climb to the top of a well.
The audience consisted of their frog friends and relatives who felt climbing to the top was an impossible feat. As the participant frogs started climbing up, the frogs in the audience voiced their thoughts.
“It is impossible to climb up top.”
“Why take so much trouble doing something that can’t be done? This time can be utilized productively elsewhere.”
“I suppose there’s no ignominy in winning a participation trophy.”
One by one, the frogs started falling down, or dropping out of the competition. All frogs except one. This lone frog paid no heed to the audience’s words, and made his way to the top, to the disbelief of everyone present.
When this frog was collecting the prize for his victory, he was asked for the secret of disregarding the naysayers’ words. “Sorry, you’d have to speak up, I’m hard of hearing”, said the frog apologetically.
Our job is to be deaf like this fabled frog.
We have infinite potential. Few of us come close to realizing our potential. The world is full of well meaning people who tell us we can’t do what we set out to achieve. In time, we believe we can’t do various things.
“I can’t do ____” is the biggest lie we tell ourselves, regardless of how you fill up the blank in this sentence.
What about family? Tony Robbins, in his flagship program Unleash the Power Within, said family is like the media — our job is to ignore what they say. True, they care about us. But they are conditioned by their own limitations which they unwittingly pass on to us.
While this article was about the toad, the cover image has Hanuman lovingly holding a small toad in His palms.
We’re the toad.
God holds us lovingly in His hands. All the time. When we recognize this, we win the battle of life — by not seeing life as a battle anymore. Armed with the love and protection of God, why not respond to life gracefully and do amazing things with our energies.
Bhakti allows you to develop a deep bond with the divine. If you are looking to imbibe devotion in your lives, the free and interactive Vedic Sadhana app is perfect for you. It allows you to identify the deity you connect with and then perform daily rituals that deepen your bond with them.