I am a guy from the Midwest who lived overseas for more than 10 years. Living in the tropics (and near the equator) was not only a learning experience but at times a test of survival. My pale skin did not appreciate the sun's rays constantly beating down on me. My bald head did not like it either.
But as I said, I learned a lot. Today I want to share some lessons I think we can all learn from the House Lizard (aka Gecko). Just to be clear, I could never have learned these lessons if I had remained smack dab in the middle of the United States. Midwesterners don't allow reptiles in the house. We have exterminators (and guns).
So here we go!
Lesson #1 - House Lizards don't show partiality.
There was saying where we lived - "You will can find a house lizard in the house of the president and in the house of the poorest man."
- Are you rich or are you poor?
- Are you smart or are you foolish?
- Are you making progress or are you moving backward?
It does not matter who you are. If you have a roof over your head, you had a house lizard in your home.
Sometimes we get so caught up in politics, religion, ethnic backgrounds, and geographical boundaries that we forget to see people as people. We focus so much on the non-essential differences that we forget about the things that connect us as human beings.
House lizards don't care who you are. They don't care where you are from. Where you are they will be!
Lesson #2 - House lizards know how to stick things out.
House lizards are reptilian superheroes. They can scale tall walls and hang from ceilings. They are mini Spidermen, minus the masks and web-slinging.
But a house lizard cannot move mountains. They cannot fly or race a speeding bullet. But they know who they are and their strengths. It just happens they the stick to the end because of their sticky toes.
Lesson #3 - House Lizards defend what is most important.
I have seen some crazy house lizard tifts. Trust me, these little guys are very territorial. Show up unannounced behind their picture frame and feel their wrath. Turn the corner of the wall and expect a rival house lizard to be in your face.
I know it sounds crazy, but I fully believe that a house lizard will fight tooth and nail for family and home. They know what is important and they will fight for it.
Lesson #4 - House Lizards have an exit stategy
When they are outmanned or outnumbered, house lizards knows how to make an exit. House lizards are not high on the food chain, so sometimes the best way to survive is to run. But they run to fight a new day.
House lizards have the ability to drop their tail to distract a predator. As their tails keep wiggling, the bigger, badder lizard is distracted and the house lizard runs away to live another day.
Lesson #5 - House Lizards leave there mark
So I will never advocate for leaving the kind of mark that house lizards leave, but I do advocate for making your mark visible in the world.
House lizards poop all over the place. I mean they really like to poop. But you know where they are and you know where they have been because they leave a mark.
You can leave a good mark or you can leave a poopy mark. The choice is up to you!
Thanks for reading. Leave your thoughts in the comment section. I look forward to hearing from you!
I love the @sumatranate! So many analogies, Mr. Lizard really does align with humans in many ways. Too bad many humans live on the poopy side! This is a great teachable lesson....I'm sure your daughters will love the way you teach life lessons :) I'll be sure to share this with my daughter as she is now a mother.
I really appreciated your encouraging words. They made my day. I sure hope my kiddos enjoy the life lessons and unique perspective I bring to the table. I want to help them learn how to do the same.
Have a blessed day!
What a cool post with great relating of the House Lizard and life, I to lived in a few countries with them, and this brought back my memories of times with them
Thanks for the encouraging comment. Glad that I was able to bring back some memories (hopefully they were good memories).
Ohh yes indeed for sure good memories, I tend to file away bad memories where I cant find them :)
I've never had a lizard living in the house, but I find them quite often on the walls of the house itself. They are interesting, and a little bit fierce looking -- like they're daring you to do something. I'm not sure what. But we co-exist peacefully in this arrangement. If one ever did make it inside, he'd be turned into cat poop sooner or later. Probably sooner. It's better this way.
House lizards are usually small, maybe 2-3 inches from head to tail. Our cat like catching the lizard and playing them, but she ever ate them. That would be a different way of leaving a mark (aka being the mark).
My cats aren't nearly that polite.
Congratulations! This post has been chosen as one of the daily Whistle Stops for The STEEM Engine!
You can see your post's place along the track here: The Daily Whistle Stops, Issue 373 (01/17/19)
Thanks for using eSteem!
Your post has been voted as a part of eSteem encouragement program. Keep up the good work! Install Android, iOS Mobile app or Windows, Mac, Linux Surfer app, if you haven't already!
Learn more: https://esteem.app
Join our discord: https://discord.gg/8eHupPq
Hi @sumatranate!
Your post was upvoted by @steem-ua, new Steem dApp, using UserAuthority for algorithmic post curation!
Your UA account score is currently 4.297 which ranks you at #2581 across all Steem accounts.
Your rank has dropped 9 places in the last three days (old rank 2572).
In our last Algorithmic Curation Round, consisting of 356 contributions, your post is ranked at #201.
Evaluation of your UA score:
Feel free to join our @steem-ua Discord server