What I learned from a tiny frog the size of my little finger

by Oana

Those who read me already know that I have a habit of taking long walks in the evening, 6-7 km park laps. I recharge myself with the energy of the water (I walk around the lake), the fresh air and the music, podcast or audiobook I listen to in my headphones. I developed my distributive attention and ability to concentrate in this way. Sometimes my mind wanders from the book I’m listening to, but I quickly bring it back, focusing my attention on the information, on the rhythm of the steps, on the clouds in the sky, on the glow of the last rays of the sun at sunset. I totally disconnect from the day’s activities that are winding down, I let my mind rest for fresh ideas, untouched by old residue. Sometimes I have amazing insights and new topics to cover, and I stop in the middle of the road to jot them down in my phone’s address book. These walks are walking meditations for me.

Sometimes I notice interesting angles to take photos, crouch or kneel to capture the best possible subject. The other day I wanted to photograph the drops of water on the freshly sprinkled blades of grass. I rested my elbow on my knee for better stability of the phone and tried to focus a stubborn drop, in which the light of a sunbeam shone. Then I noticed a brown spot in the grass, right in my shooting angle. At first I started grumbling because it was ruining my picture, but when I got closer I saw that it was a tiny frog, the size of my little finger. She did not try to run away, to hide in the thick grass, but remained motionless, probably the instinct of preservation told her that this way she would go unnoticed. Who knows what was in her little frog mind…I originally shot her from far away with a zoom because I was afraid she would run away and lose the subject. But I didn’t like what was coming out, so I got closer and closer. I got within 10cm and she didn’t even blink. I took dozens of photos until I was satisfied with one. She didn’t move. Her goal was to escape unscathed from the encounter with the approaching giant, and mine was to get a good photo. We were both successful without getting hurt and without getting frustrated. In life, sometimes it’s good to stay still, not to move in order to reach your goal, to have the strength to stay in place to face the “giant”, to observe it and to know what a certain situation is for you. And sometimes it’s good to dare to get close to get what you want, even at the risk of losing it. In both situations it would be good to be driven by curiosity, altruism and respect, not aggression. Because aggression always attracts aggression. If you make the first move, make sure you’re not aggressive. If someone approaches you with aggression, you will not be able to counter with gentleness, because as I said, aggression attracts aggression, no matter how pacifist you are.

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