I saw my niece and nephew playing in the grass and I asked, “Hey, what are you doing? Are you hopping like frogs?” It seemed to me they were looking at something in the grass. But then they looked up as if what I said was a great idea. So, my niece yelled back at me, “Yeah! Ribbit! We are hopping like frogs!” And from there on out this is what they began to do. They even had a frog race in which my niece gave up and ran to win. Basically, she cheated lol! But my nephew didn’t seem to mind.

All of the adults outside sitting on the patio seem to enjoy watching this event and those two play outside. I observed the laughter and smiles of the adults. They also tried to play cornhole after the adults left the game. They waited for our applause and cheers, and cheered themselves as they moved closer and closer to put the little bean bags in the hole. Totally, not how the game is played. They adjusted their position that made tossing easier for them. Ha! We should do the same in life!

I think we as adults in our minds simply enjoyed the childlike, carefree nature of the two. Exploring the backyard, running around, playing, and pretending gave an energy of “not a care in the world” at that moment. Not for them and not for us. We weren’t thinking about our problems, aches, or pains. No. We were just in the moment and sharing the moment.

May you hop like frogs this weekend. May you hop like frogs this month and all summer long. May you hop like frogs on vacation. May you hop like frogs all year long. What am I saying to you? Us? May we not carry our cares, struggles, moods (funky moods), issues everywhere and into every aspect of our lives. May we not ruin it for others. May recognize a time to pretend and play. May we recognize the occasion and the opportunity to be present in it. May we run around as adults for the fun of it. May we look ridiculous trying and not care about looking ridiculous.

May we be the observers others “hopping like frogs” and encouraging them to do so. May we wave to them while we are working. May we join them sometimes. May wander aimlessly and ponder in nature with curiosity the things of nature. Why is the grass green? What kind of bird makes that sound? Oh wow, look at the airplane! Oh wow, look at that nest up so high! May we sit on the lawn or in a lawn chair and just eat our ice cream like, “I can’t believe this is sooooo good!” May it drip on our hands. May we not mind so much for a while where we are in the race of life and not care who cheated to get ahead. After all, we are all headed to the same final destination and on different paths getting there anyways. May we hop like frogs!

~Nikki