The Pursuit of Mr. Frog Fish

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by Chasing Potatoes

The Pursuit of Mr. Frog Fish

 

          This is not a fairy tale where a girl kissed a frog that turned into her Prince Charming but rather this is a different story (because that was a frog but my story is a fish, a FROG FISH. Lol!). Kidding aside, this is a story which has an essential element as we move forward in our daily lives. So here it goes…

          I have tried a lot of times, but still I fail. I fail and I always fail. Failure never ceases to block my way. Failure dampens my spirit to move on, to realize my dreams, to reach my goals. Winning is hard to get. 😦 Maybe I just have to stop dreaming, forget everything and subscribe to the idea of letting go.

          I have never fathomed the essence of my existence in this world. The reality of challenges and adversities has made my life topsy-turvy. UGH! I guess I should STOP!!! 😦 I guess I have just to drift with the current in life. I guess I will just go with the flow. Thoughts like these keep floating in my mind but the best advice for these damn thoughts – NEVER EVER GIVE UP..

          How about you? Have you gone through those times that no matter how many times you tried, you were still unsuccessful — you couldn’t achieve your goals, and even just a tiny bit of luck is out of reach and nowhere to be found … as if God never listened to your heart’s desires?

          Let me tell you a story where you may be inspired to follow your dream … you must not give up no matter how many tries you have made. This story prods you to try and try until … you get there. 🙂

          The woman is Jayashrii. She loves the ocean and treated this as her other world. She is happy being surrounded with water. She believes she was once a mermaid.

          Every time she is in that blue side of the world, she is able to witness beautiful and diverse marine creatures of varied shapes, colors, sizes and fluffiness and coral reefs with magnificent designs and structures. The more time she’s in the water the more her curiosity is aroused.

          One day she wanted to see a specific creature which she had not ever seen. She desired to see Mr. Frog Fish! So she dived and dived. She dived a hundred times wishing to see Mr. Frog Fish. Sometimes she travels to other parts of the country to see this mystical creature. There are also times when she gets tired because her search had come to naught. There are dives where she gets exhausted fighting a strong current that made her drift here and there. She even had to endure the pain from wounds and scratches caused by tiny marine things which were not within her vision. Sometimes she would dived during the night with a little amount of visibility from her flashlight but still Mr. Frog Fish was nowhere in sight. Sometimes she wondered that maybe frog fishes were already extinct.

          But still her hopes were high and she never surrendered.

          One day, she went out with her friends and dived in BAS DAKO, Moalboal. When she submerged in the sea and neutralized her buoyancy, she thought she saw Mr. Frog Fish but it was just a huge turtle trying to sleep then suddenly startled when it saw human beings staring at it, taking photos for Facebook’s sake. It swam until it disappeared from view, well, the turtles probably hate to be published in social media. They’re a little shy.

The Pursuit of Mr. Frog Fish
Sleepy Mr. Turtle
The Pursuit of Mr. Frog Fish
Can you show me the way? Coz wa ko ka-turtle! haha

          Jayashrii kept on swimming and looking for Mr. Frog Fish. She looked from corals to corals until she unexpectedly met a deadly stone fish camouflaging in the surroundings. Upon seeing him she was shocked but was awed seeing the stunning deadly fish.

The Pursuit of Mr. Frog Fish
Can you spot the stone fish? 🙂

          While continuing her search, she saw vibrant and colourful marine biodiversity which delighted her until her air was almost used up. She ascended and went to the surface. She was disheartened because she had not found Mr. Frog Fish underneath. Again (insert Sigh) 😦

          But still her hopes were high and she would never surrender.

The Pursuit of Mr. Frog Fish

The Pursuit of Mr. Frog Fish
Moalboal bed of corals 🙂

The Pursuit of Mr. Frog Fish

           Until she tried night diving.

          The Sun slowly departed from the grand and impressive landscape radiating fine-looking hues. Moments later darkness started to envelope the earth’s surface and then dominated the place. The water was silently alluring and inviting Jayashrii to have a night dive. She dived and sank deep down under the dark-colored seawater.

The Pursuit of Mr. Frog Fish
Getting ready for night dive 🙂

          Amidst the black surroundings, she carried her flashlight hoping to see Mr. Frog Fish. She swam pointing her light towards the corals but still no frog fish was in sight. She saw turtle once again flying gracefully in the sea.

The Pursuit of Mr. Frog Fish
Turtle at night 🙂

          She searched around for Mr. Frog Fish. Then suddenly beside a  coral, something moved. She looked at it. She thought that it was just a part of a soft coral that moved; but it was Mr. Frog Fish! It was the size of a softball and was pale pink in color.

The Pursuit of Mr. Frog Fish
Meet Mr. Frog Fish

          She watched Mr. Frog Fish over and over and then it got disturbed in its sleep may be because of the light pointed towards it.

The Pursuit of Mr. Frog Fish
If ever you encounter this awesome creature, please do not ever kiss him. lol

         Oh, Jayashri felt sorry for the trouble she made. She was just awestruck and fascinated with this mystical creature. If she could just shout her happiness in the water she would have done it. She was really in high spirits that finally she saw Mr. Frog Fish.

         She didn’t bother Mr. Frog Fish anymore and left it in peace. She was grateful for everything she had experienced because all the obstacles were paid off. It was worth it.

The Pursuit of Mr. Frog Fish
So FLUFFY 🙂

FUN FACT :
Based on my research in the net, frog fish is one of the few ancient fishes still alive and  most of them cannot swim. Instead they walk at the bottom of the sea. 

Just look at the video of how Mr. Frog Fish walked.

          I know you may find this piece a sheer thought of implausibility of our existence but the moment we believe in not giving up, we are formidable to embrace and face great challenges and circumstances that may come our way for we know that once our dream will be realized, we will be happy tasting the sweetness of success and savouring the flavour of achievement.

          Never ever give up. What if you give up on your 99th try, not knowing that the hundredth try will be the realization of your dream? The prize may be far … but just keep on. It’s okay to get tired but just keep going. Who knows? 😉

© Thanks to Kuya Val and Jayashrii for the photos 🙂

The Pursuit of Mr. Frog Fish
Thanks for visiting 🙂

Published by

Chasing Potatoes

Why Chasing Potatoes? I’m Chasing Potatoes. I chase time and opportunities because just like round potatoes they roll and get lost. I chase them to store memories to last a lifetime. I make haste, running after them, fearful that they might be gone. That’s why I go places on land or in water.My story tells about the journey of chasing time and saying yes to wonderful opportunities.

52 thoughts on “The Pursuit of Mr. Frog Fish”

  3. Atlanta

    Buckhead offers twelve-dollar sandwiches,
    Parents lunching their children on Saturday:
    Straight from Beemer to deli to Emory to evening
    Wedding to Benz to kids at lunch on Peachtree.

    North Peachtree, where you can’t quite see the smog
    Thanks to trees and art and tacky bars. Southern
    Culture on the skids, but not outside this deli, where
    Leaves tumble with Dr. Brown’s Cream Soda cans.

    All I can think of is you: hamburgers and organic
    Bananas, juices, never soda, and a complete
    Satisfaction. Money doesn’t earn these deli-dippers
    The satisfaction you have. Inner peace even.

    You cook after volunteering, after the kids are
    Down for the night. You go there and back then home
    To ride your bike to work. Teach me how to calm
    Myself won’t you? One point at five points:

    There is no chemistry to teach the zen you have.
    Perfect weather makes yellow leaves stand out.
    Small winds coerce more travel. Sharp shadows
    Waver. One beacon lures me home to paint autumn.

    Liked by 2 people

          1. The first time I made diving, I just randomly took photos of underwater creatures. I had this photo of a Nudi. Only to realize later that there’s a Frogfish on the background. That’s after some months when I decided to browse my diving photos. Lol😀

            Liked by 2 people

  6. hahaha I absolutely love how you spun a tale to reflect your adventure! You never fail to surprise and entertain:) Your posts are the ones I look forward to most! I’m glad the moral is to never give up, because I hope you never stop doing what you love and inspiring us all<3

    inconformistafashionista.wordpress.com

    Liked by 2 people

  7. Very beautiful blog entry. You are very lucky to have seen a frogfish. When we dived in Balicasag Island, our divemaster pointed to us a frogfish, but we never saw it; it was very well camouflaged.

    Wala pa gyud mi naka dive sa Moalboal; we’ll put that in our priority list next year.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Yes 😛 frog fish is hard to find. That was why Ate Jai aka Jayashrii was overjoyed when she finally saw it.

      Well, I have something to look forward to. I am excited to see your blog regarding your diving entry in Moalboal, hehe 🙂

      Like

  11. Hahah, You’re really a good storyteller. Ahaha. I thinking that Mr. Frog Fish here is a person you’re looking forward to meet at the bottom of the sea. Some kind of searching for Mr. Right. 😀

    Going back to your story, this one is so inspirational. We must not give up, try and try even if we failed. Rest but never quit, or take things in a different approach.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. No, this is a real story of Ate Jai a.k.a Jayashrii searching for the frog fish. However, I like that idea of searching Mr. Right instead. Lol!

      Anyway, thank you because you find this piece inspirational. I’m delighted with the thoughts you shared. 🙂

      Like

  14. I secretly want that turtle! Like I want to go into your blog post and take it for my keeping – animal cruetly much 🙂 I’m sure if I was scuba diving with you, we would get arrested because I stole a turtle. They are the cutest. You’re photos and posts are too awesome, they make me want to do more adventurous things, No jokes! I want to take up scuba diving right about now, even though, I cant actually swim. Would that be a problem, do you think?hahah
    wishing you an awesome weekend chica
    xox

    Liked by 2 people

    2. The first time I saw a turtle, I thought of riding it because it looks like a spaceship, but there’s a rule in scuba diving – never ever touch or hold any marine creatures – (despite showing off their cuteness. HAHAHAHA! :P) Turtles are really cute!

      Thanks Dana for visiting my blog. Have an awesome week too. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Hahhaha spaceship 🙊 turtles are the cutest ever. I want to take up scuba diving even more now. I live in the south so maybe I can get to do it one day … As soon as I learn swimming

        Liked by 2 people

  16. Sobrang galing ng pagkakagawa ng blog na ito. haha kakaiba… 🙂
    Minsan gagayahin ko talaga ung Chasing Potatoes style sa pagsusulat.
    Sarap magbasa. thanks for sharing this. 🙂 It inspired me alot..

    Liked by 2 people

      1. Wow, your comment is one of the great things I see today. You, too, inspired me to keep going on with my writing and blogging.. Thank you so much for the nice words of appreciation, Jonathan. 🙂 God bless.

        Like

  17. Ang saya! Pangarap ko talaga matuto mag-scuba diving. Ang daming magaganda creatures sa ilalim ng tubig.. and medyo mahal siya.

    Love this article! I am happy for Ms. Jayashrii for finding Mr. Frog Fish. Nainspire ako. 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

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