Lessons Learned From a Frog

In my downtime, I am often tending to a fishpond that I have in my backyard. Although it requires work, it also brings me much peace and joy. Recently, when I was doing pond maintenance, I spotted a frog perched on a rock right in the middle of some floating pond plants. Pausing for a while and watching him (or her lol), prompted me to reflect on how he seemed to be free of worry.

In a study by researchers at Penn State, the average person reported “3 to 4 testable worries per day” (Gillihan, 2019). Some feelings of worry can be healthy in that they can push us to discover solutions to problems. For example, some “worry” about one’s health may lead to healthier eating. But chronic worry can take a toll on one’s mental and physical health. Excessive worrying can make individuals more vulnerable to anxiety or depression.

Watching the frog who appeared so relaxed reminded me of several strategies we can use to cope with and/or ward off worry:

• Taking a break – we can do things that we enjoy. The frog seemed to enjoy basking in the sun.

• Spending time in nature – getting outdoors can help us to free ourselves from worry.

• Practicing mindfulness – this happens when we focus on breathing and using our senses to experience the moment. In this way, we can experience and fully appreciate the present.

I thought about the many things we can sometimes worry too much about:

• Food

• Clothing

• Money

• Shelter

• Physical and mental health

• Life problems and challenges

• Relationships

• The future

• And the list goes on…

However, I took comfort in remembering what we are told in Matthew 6:25-34:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:25-34, New International Version

So, encountering the frog who was relaxing in the pond that day caused me to reflect and more importantly change course for the remainder of the day.

Ann Gantt, Ph.D, LCSW

Counseling Supervisor