My Happiness Coach

“If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And If it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.”

Mark Twain

You might be wondering…. why frogs? I honestly have no idea!!!

Between eating frogs & counting spoons, I sometimes get lost in analogies. I think it goes something like this…

Mark Twain’s quote about eating frogs & Christine Miserandino’s essay entitled “The Spoon Theory” can help you understand how people can function at their best.

Frogs are those things that need to be done & are your responsibility. If you have multiple responsibilities, make your way through the biggest one first. This way you don’t wait until you have run out of spoons and cannot accomplish the biggest task.

Spoon Theory states that each day you wake up with a certain number of spoons. The number may vary depending of several factors: quality & quantity of sleep, stress, nutritional intake, mental & physical health. Calculating spoon math first thing in the morning can set you up for success.

Everything that you must do, process, or otherwise engage in costs a certain amount of spoons. Now that sounds easy enough, but you have to figure out how difficult a task will be so you know how many spoons it will cost today. This is because the number of spoons each task can change, especially in people dealing with chronic pain, illness, or mental health challenges.

This is where Mr. Twain & his mystical frogs come in.

Counting all these spoons each & every day means a lot of mental spoon math. But, when we throw in some frogs things get so much easier.

Think about your responsibilities as frogs & their size is determined by the difficulty of the task. Then, start picture yourself scooping up some frogs. Each frog takes a different number of spoons to scoop. So, if you scoop the biggest, baddest, & possibility scariest frog first, you set yourself up for success the rest of the day.

As we are scooping frogs, we are smiling & laughing. This is because finishing off a frog, especially a big one, feels amazing. Basking in the light of finishing a large task you assess how many spoons you have left for the day and scoop another frog.

Don’t worry about the frogs though. They enjoy being scooped because they are imaginary.

*Please note that I am not a doctor or therapist. You should always check in with your healthcare professional before starting a new program*