“Hello, may I speak to Mr. Bear?”  Click.  “Hello, Mr. Lyon please” – click.  “Hello, is Mr. Wolf in today?”  Click – The preceding was one day in the life of the St. Louis Zoo’s receptionist.  In 1940 the St. Louis Zoo changed its number on April 1^st because of the phone calls!

 When I was little, my mother would always say something as a prank on April Fools’ Day, like, “It’s snowing outside.”  Ironically, we just had snow a few days shy of April one, so that was almost nature’s prank!

 There’s an expression that I’ve heard and I’m not really sure where it came from but it’s, “God looks after fools, drunks and little children.”   That certainly seems to be the case sometimes. 

 Since it’s April Fools’ week, I was reflecting on the word fool and its meaning.  Webster’s Dictionary describes a fool as a person lacking in judgment or prudence, or lacking in common powers of understanding.  The word fooling is synonymous with the word deceive, which implies imposing a fake idea or belief that causes ignorance, bewilderment or helplessness.  

 How many times do we impose a fake idea or belief in ourselves?   The idea might look like –  I’m too old, I’m too young, I’ve failed before, I’ll fail again.  Sometimes our negative beliefs are so strong that we can’t see an alternative.  How about bewilderment?  Perhaps you’ve neglected a healthy lifestyle of eating good food in proper portions, exercising on a regular basis, getting enough rest and managing stress in your life.  Now you’re starting to have health issues as a result, but you’re bewildered. 

 Let this April Fools’ Day mark a new day to not fool yourself anymore about participating in destructive habits.  Change the definition of fool to having a fondness for or being a fool for loving ourselves, being conscious of our actions, conscious of our self-talk and our beliefs.  No fooling!