My Coach and Mentor, Jeanine Yoder, shared this story with me last week as a part of her Mentor MasterClass Program.  And it has me thinking, how am I like the Scorpion. She credits Tony Robbins for using this story to help us see how our beliefs and our identity cause us to act and the choices we make. Sharing with you to get you thinking, how are you like the scorpion?  

​The Story of the Frog & the Scorpion:
A scorpion wanted to make his way across the river.
He saw the frog a few feet away, so he asked the frog if he would be willing to let him ride on his back across to the other side to see his family. The conversation continued:
I don't think so Scorpion, I know you so well and know you are a scorpion and scorpions sting frogs, I will get halfway across the river, and you will sting me."
To which the scorpion replied "You are not thinking with your little frog brain. If I kill you then I will drown too, so I wouldn't do that, I'd be killing myself.  Do you think I am that stupid?"
The frog seemed confused but agreed and the scorpion jumped on his back. 
He started to swim across the river, and about half way across the scorpion stung the frog.
The frog couldn't believe it.  He looked the scorpion in the eyes, as they were both going down and said, "I can't believe this. I'm dying, but you will too.  Why would you do this?"
The scorpion answered, "because I am a scorpion, I sting frogs"

I find rituals keep me focused on what is important in my life and continuing to move in the direction of my dreams.  Because life is busy, I tend to struggle with feeling overwhelmed and pushing my needs to the side.  To achieve the desired feeling I have to be productive, calm, and out of overwhelm, I started the following practice.  

Every morning I dedicate just 15 minutes to myself. (once the kids are at school, phew) I start by taking a moment to enjoy the sunny smell of oranges & do some light stretching, slow down, and breath. It makes me feel optimistic, calm and happy about the day ahead. It creates a space and a calm few moments to feel into what my body needs so I can intentionally decide what I need to care for my self throughout the day.  I journal to commit to the intentions I have for self care for the day, and finally write down all of the practical to do's I need to tackle to feel complete at the end of the day in this friendly notebook :)

This is my most productive practice, and keeps me out of overwhelm.