Stillness Before Action: What the Frogs Can Teach Us About Mindful Presence

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Stillness Before Action: What the Frogs Can Teach Us About Mindful Presence

The micro-mindfulness practice of listening to frogs before eating them (metaphorically of course).

Denise Pyles

Mar 03, 2025

Transcript

Hi y’all,

There is a common metaphor for time management and productivity called Eat the Frog.

The tip is to eat the frog, the most important, complex, or difficult task of the day, and do that immediately. Get that done first to be more productive. Brian Tracy’s book Eat That Frog best highlights this practice.

There's another story that uses the metaphor of frogs for personal growth.

It is about listening to frogs each day, something I highly recommend before eating them.

This parable is the story I learned during my theological studies, which I have adopted as a way of life. (For those who may not know, an abbess is the mother superior, the sister that is the leader of the monastery).

A Parable of the Song of the Frogs

An abbess at a monastery in a far-off distant land would arise early each morning and walk down the road to a nearby pond. She would sit by the pond for quite a long time before returning to the convent to perform her daily rituals of monastic life. She did this every day for all the years of her life.

While the abbess was on her deathbed surrounded by her community of sisters, one of the nuns asked her why she went to the pond every day. “Did you go to obtain some deep insights or profound teachings of wisdom?”

“No,” said the abbess. “I went to the pond every day to listen and learn the song of the frogs. It is a sacred song that takes a long time to learn.”

An adaptation from the article “Learning the Song of the Frogs: The Arts and Theology” by Rev. Edward Foley, Capuchin, April 1994. (Out of print).

One way to practice micro-mindfulness is to listen to frogs before eating them.

Listening to frogs is about practicing stillness and mindful listening as a way of living.

The frog metaphor is about more than getting things done. It’s about bringing your whole self to work and life, starting with a mindset and intention rooted in stillness.

The Parable of Listening to the Song of the Frogs means to:

Pay attention and be present without judgment.
Take time to ground yourself with your purpose for the day.
Be in an optimal frame of mind to tackle your most important tasks.
Become centered with stillness to listen to the sound of life before you.

Today's message is to keep listening because it takes a long time, a lifetime, to grow toward wholeness.

That's it.

What is one way you will practice the habit of mindful listening and stillness this week? In your morning or evening ritual? Or maybe at a dedicated time in the afternoon or a transition moment in your day to pause and listen?

Be still, then be present. Listen, then eat. Pay attention, then act.

Listen to the frogs before eating them (metaphorically, of course).

Thanks for listening. I appreciate you being part of the journey.

Have a mindful week, and we’ll see you next time. Thanks.

Denise

Denise Pyles

I'm a former nun who, at midlife, pivoted to corporate life with zero business experience and became an award-winning program manager. I want to help you find stillness in the ball pit bouncy house of life.

Mindfulness begins with tiny steps toward being present. You can start micro-mindfulness right now without adding one more thing to your calendar. Join my newsletter, and I will share simple micro-mindfulness tips every week that you can start today.

In my book Burn Without Burning Out: 7 Micro-Mindfulness Habits for Clear Thinking, Decisive Action, and Recovery from Burnout, I share other skills I learned as a nun. Grab your copy today.