Rana
About a year ago, I was in Costa Rica volunteering at a medical clinic in an area stricken with poverty. There was a day during our time there, when the physician of the clinic took us all on a field trip to visit a native indian reservation. Wait a minute, there are native indians in Costa Rica? But of course! There were some living there before it got colonized by Spanish explorers.
So anyways, we reached the settlement and a native gave us a tour of the buildings and plants in the area and how they were utilized for alternative medicine. It was pretty cool! We got to see various cancer-treating plants in the rainforest, and we also got to try a few of the medicinal plants. The native also showed us a few huts where they provided aromatherapueatic treatments that involved plants more potent than marijuana. There was also a meditation hut where I experienced an incredible random discovery.
Inside the hut, there were tree stumps on which people sat and contemplated and meditated in the darkness. There was a hole at the top of the hut where one could also see the starts and moonlight shimmering into the hut to give it a relaxing atmosphere. The tour guide explained to us that each of the tree stumps featured a painted image of an animal. After choosing a random stump to meditate on, the patient would then gaze upon the animal pictured on the stump to get an understanding of who they were and what the solution to their problem was. There were various animals possible including eagles, monkeys, and frogs.
After telling us this, I quickly stood up to see what animal was featured on my tree stump. It was a frog.
A frog!
Can you believe that???
So...what's the big deal? Perhaps I should back up a bit and explain my little frog fetish.
Sometime around sixth grade, I had to do an art project where I could draw or paint anything I wanted. The result would be turned into a magnet that we could take home to stick on the fridge. I wasn't sure what to draw until I saw a photograph of a tree frog in a magazine. It's great big eyes staring at me with such focus and intrigue...I was hypnotized by it. I decided to draw it, and then I painted it, and suddenly, I grew very fond of my artistic accomplishment. From that day onward, frogs became my favorite animal. They're just soo cool with their eyes and their rubbery colorful skin. I didn't quite understand why it had to be this animal that I felt a connection to...until that day in Costa Rica gave some meaning to it.
I was determined to figure out what the picture of the frog reflected on a person who meditated on it in the hut. I asked the native guide, "Que significa la rana?" The native told me something like, "La rana es un animal que es muy pensando..." Basically, the frog reflects a thinker. A frog can sit for hours as if in contemplation...waiting for something or some thought to provoke him. He takes no action for quite a while until a fly happens to pass his line of sight. The movement of the small dark dot is enough to cease the waiting and strike hard and fast!
I suppose...I am a bit like a frog. I take my time with things. A lot of time. I contemplate a lot before thinking about doing something...and then when it comes to doing that something, I hesitate and contemplate some more until something just happens...some opportunity emerges to just do something about it. I sit patiently...a frog that I am. And I wait and ponder...and wait...and ponder...for that special moment...when all that thinking and waiting will eventually pay off...or just lead to more thinking and constructive self-criticism for the next time when I'll strike yet again.
Frogs are cool.