Have you ever seen the movie Armageddon? Remember that one scene towards the end when the asteroid is about to cross the critical threshold for hitting Earth, and the astronauts (aka poorly-trained oil drillers with Air Force chaperones) haven’t yet successfully blown up the asteroid nor have they launched their space shuttle to safety? That’s when Colonel Sharp declares, “We’ve got no time!” Well, I’ve lived much of my life until recently with that mantra “no time”. Thanks to my two dogs Marley and Bailey though, I was reminded of an important life lesson recently, and I dare say I will never forget it again.
Anybody who has been reading Plus Delta’s blog since the beginning has met our two favorite office dogs Marley and Bailey. Both are Australian Sheppards, and both are amazingly smart, loyal, and loving dogs.
Marley is the almost 2 ½-year-old brown “Tri”, and Bailey is a not quite 2-year-old black and white “Blue Merle”. While these dogs are similar in many ways, they are SO DIFFERENT when it comes to their energy levels and how they behave. And that has never been so apparent as it was last week when I was walking them both at the beach…
Marley is playful and energetic much of the time, and he knows that when he’s on his leash that he needs to heel and stay by my side. Bailey, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to have the word “heel” in her doggy vernacular yet nor does she get that the reason why she’s choking all the time is because she’s pulling so hard that her collar is cinching up on her as I hold the other end of the leash. “If she would only slow down,” I thought to myself, “she wouldn’t choke herself to death!” And then it hit me… Marley has learned life’s valuable lesson to stop and smell the roses – OK, they’re not really roses at the beach, more like ice plant and seaweed, but you get the point! – and Bailey has not. “Oh my gosh,” I realized. “She’s just like me!”
I don’t know about you, but I don’t do well living in scarcity and fear of what could be. I’m much happier believing in abundance and feeling in control. That hasn’t always translated into my slowing down to appreciate all of life’s gifts though. Instead, I have regularly tried to do more – and do it faster and better than the next guy or gal. Yes, I’m pretty driven that way. I get it. I’ve missed out on smelling the roses for quite some time, and I keep choking myself by pulling too hard on my leash.
My leash may not be real, and my collar may not be attached to my owner’s leash. I clearly have my limits though, and when I try to pull my way past them, someone (oftentimes me) usually pulls back and says, “Heel!” Thanks to Marley, I stop to smell the roses far more often these days. And thanks to Bailey, I recognize when my collar is choking me, and I slow down and simply recognize how blessed I am to be me.
So what do you do to live a life of abundance instead of scarcity? To tell the Colonel Sharp in your life (or maybe in your head) that you have plenty of time to do what needs to get done? Share your comments with us here, and maybe you too can become “man’s best friend”!
