If You Gotta Eat A Frog

Today’s quote comes from Mark Twain. He said, “If you have to eat a frog, might as well do it early in the morning.” Something along those lines.

“If you have to eat a frog, might as well do it early in the morning.”

It reminds me of my grandfather. He’s no longer with us here on Earth, but when I was a little boy, I’d sit in the kitchen eating breakfast—bacon and eggs or sometimes cereal. Usually bacon and eggs, because my grandpa wasn’t much for cereal. It was oatmeal and other farm food.

He’d finish up his cup of coffee, fold the paper, and say to my grandma, “Well, Mom, name’s not in the obituary. So I guess I better get out there and do some chores.” Then he’d turn to me and say, “Chad, you coming? I didn’t see your name in there either.”

It was funny. We’d joke around. My grandfather was always joking and having fun, but what he meant was this: if your name isn’t in the obituary, then go be valuable. Get up, get going, and get the chores done early so you can enjoy the rest of the day.

If you have something hard to do, you might as well get after it. Just get it done. There’s no excuse not to go be valuable.

Here at Northwest Enforcement, being valuable is something we pride ourselves on. Nothing less will do. Don’t cut corners. Don’t look for ways out or skip the hard stuff. If you’ve got something hard to do, get after it. Be valuable.

My grandpa was an amazing guy. He had a few acres, and I used to love feeding the chickens, riding horses, and doing all those farm things. My summers were wrapped around baseball, cutting wood for winter—which wasn’t a lot of fun—and spending time with my grandpa on the farm. Those were the joys of my life.

My grandpa had a way of making me feel valuable. He made me feel like I was part of something important. Like if I wasn’t there, the work would be harder without me. And I wanted to help. Working hard with my grandpa was something I enjoyed.

Now, working hard with my dad? Not so much. Sorry, Dad—I love you, but it’s true. I think we’re all like that a little bit. And I think my boys are the same way. They’ll go mow the neighbor’s lawn and do a better job than they do on mine. They’ll pull weeds for the neighbor, but if I ask them, suddenly it’s “Life is over.”

Still, I try to instill that value in them. This summer, I’ve already warned them. Before school was even out a couple weeks ago, I let them know: we’re getting after it every morning. We’re going to maintain our yard, our home, and our life. Then we’ll go have fun—hike, hit the water slide, go to the pool.

But first, we’ll be valuable to our family. We’ll clean toilets, vacuum floors, and knock out the chores. Because our name’s not in the obituary.

And again, if you’ve got to eat a frog, you might as well do it early in the morning.

God bless you guys. Have a wonderful week. And don’t forget—we’ve got barbecues coming up. Later this week, we’ll be celebrating, and our country is almost 250 years old. It’s going to be amazing. Just about the same age as me—imagine that.

God bless. Talk to you later. See you.