Lessons From Nature: Find Your Element

From time to time, I’ll be sharing articles inspired by my experiences and perspectives gleaned from excursions in nature as I seek out interesting wildlife and moments of beauty – my very favorite way to recharge my battery and keep my creative spark active. And for years now, my favorite of all critters is the tree frog. Something about their posture and presence brings to mind a precious little human baby. Perhaps this association is what inspired the once wildly popular Anne Geddes to shoot so many adorable images of babies in animal-inspired costumes and poses. No idea about that, but wouldn’t surprise me. But coming back to our point – what do tree frogs have to do with finding your element?

It’s simple! Tree frogs are made for climbing and living up above the ground. It’s their nature. They find their food and their companionship up among the leaves – where they belong. That’s where they thrive. And they also stay much safer from the danger of predators when they work with their natural makeup. In this case, it means sticking to places that match their color and patterns to make them far less vulnerable to being spotted and picked off. It also means that when they are not hunting for food or companionship, they tend to hunker down, rather than hopping and jumping about like so many ground-dwelling frogs tend to do. Their specially designed sticky feet are perfect for hanging on in all kinds of upright situations. And talk about camouflage – you should see a gray treefrog blend in among lumps of tree bark. Wow!

Okay, but what does this have to do with human mental health and relationships, you may ask? Well, I’ll lay it out for you. We live our best lives when we embrace both our giftings and our limitations and pursue a path accordingly. Trying to approach life like someone else who is just built differently sets us up for frustration and unnecessary struggle. So celebrate your quirks! Find your element. Build on your strengths and make them work for you. Don’t beat yourself up for areas of struggle in your life. Work to improve what you can, get help when you need it, and find ways to work with your areas of weakness. Living your best life means being YOU – not trying to be someone you think anyone else expects you to be. And for those of us who are parents, teachers, coaches, pastors, or in any roles of significant influence on the next generation: let’s do our best to help kids grow toward adulthood in this same way – being the best version of who God created them to be, not trying to press them into a mold that simply doesn’t fit their nature. In fact, many Biblical scholars agree that the verse that calls parents to, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it,” would be more accurately translated as, “Train up a child according to his bent, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

Enjoy being you! And may you help your kids to do the same!