STORY 58
LEARNING TO USE WHAT YOU HAVETherapeutic Characteristics
Problems Addressed
■ Seemingly insoluble problems
■ Limited thinkingResources Developed
■ Learning to use your own resources
■ Being open to new possibilities
■ Building skills
■ Learning that you only need to do something once to know it is possibleOutcomes Offered
■ Possibility thinking
■ Reliance on your abilities
■ Enjoyment of your success
Sometimes things can be scary. Sometimes we face situations that we doubt we can handle, or
wonder how we might do so. Phillipa was a frog, a little frog, who was in just such a position. She
lived in a pond with all of her family and a lot of friends, but that wasn’t the problem. She could sit
on a lily pad and flick out her long, quick tongue to catch a juicy, passing insect whenever she wanted.
That wasn’t the problem, either.
The problem was that there was a big mean snake that lived near the banks of Phillipa’s pond.
Mean Mrs. Snake had gobbled up some of Phillipa’s friends who hadn’t been on the lookout while
playing leapfrog on the banks. If a frog happened to be too busy concentrating on a tasty-looking in-
sect, mean Mrs. Snake could have her eyes on that frog as meal for herself.
At times, she would slither into the pond, silently swimming from lily pad to lily pad, looking
for big, plump frogs to add to her menu.
Phillipa didn’t know what she could do to save herself or the other frogs from mean Mrs. Snake.
At first she called on the god of frogs, who said, “I have created you with all that you need to help
yourself. As much as I would like to help, sometimes there are things that you have to do yourself.”
That wasn’t very helpful, she thought, and wondered what else she could do. A frog could leap,
but mean Mrs. Snake could dart faster. A frog could swim, but so could a snake. What else, what else?
she wondered. Deep in thought, she hadn’t noticed how close she had drifted to the shore. Suddenly
there was a swish of sound and without even looking Phillipa knew it was mean Mrs. Snake.
Phillipa remembered once hearing a friend say, “If only we could climb the trees.” Everyone else
replied, “Don’t be silly, we’re only frogs. Frogs leap and swim. They don’t climb trees.”
Within the flash of an instant, Phillipa saw a branch above her and leapt with the biggest leap of
her life. Her webbed feet spread wide, her hind legs pressed down into the water, propelling her out
of the pond and into the air. She reached out with her front legs as she did, grasping the branch and
CREATING THOUGHTSCreating Helpful Thoughts 149