A Lesson From The Labrador
There once was a Labrador. He was a big sturdy animal with boundless energy and a fuzzy face. All the dogs loved the Labrador. The Jack Russell Terrier loved him, the Collie loved him, and the Pit Bull loved him. So, it’s no surprised that the Greyhound loved him, too.
Despite their differences (one was quiet and a bit skittish, the other boisterous and affectionate), the Greyhound and the Labrador were great friends. They enjoyed laying on the porch at night where they shared with each other what they dug up that day or what new scents they encountered. And it wasn’t unusual for the Greyhound to learn a lesson from time to time.
One evening, the Greyhound and the Labrador watched the Beagle walk by. The Beagle held his head low and his floppy ears dragged so close to the ground that the duo almost mistook him for the Bassett.
“You know, there’s two kinds of dogs,” the Labrador said to the Greyhound. “There are dogs that make things happen and there are dogs that things happen to. That Beagle is a dog that things happen to.”
The Greyhound was a bit puzzled by his friend’s declaration, so the Labrador explained.
“The Beagle is moping around because he lost his favorite ball playing fetch.”
“Wouldn’t you be sad, too, if lost your favorite ball,” asked the Greyhound.
“Did lose mine,” said the Labrador.
“Not the green one.”
“Yep. The green one,” the Labrador sighed. “Lost it the same way the Beagle lost his. Playing fetch. But, the Beagle and me…we’re different. He blames his master for throwing the ball too far. The way I see it, in my case I didn’t go far enough to catch it.”
The Greyhound thought for a moment about what the Labrador had to say.
“But are you happy without your ball?” the Greyhound wondered aloud.
“I may not be happy about losing my ball,” the Labrador admitted. “But I sure am I happy that I didn’t chase it into the road and get my big ol’ noggin’ squashed by the car that squashed that green ball.”
“I guess there will always other green balls,” the Greyhound nodded.
“Maybe even a red one,” the Labrador added with a grin. “Yep. That Beagle is a dog that things happen to. I’m a dog that makes things happen.”
We could all take a lesson from the Labrador. Our own happiness is ultimately our own responsibility.
Sure, masters toss dogs balls they may never fetch, just like life throws us a curve ball from time to time. We’re always ready to take credit for the home runs. Shouldn’t we be ready to take responsibility to for the strike outs, too?
Don’t be a dog that things happen to.
April 20th, 2007 at 3:48 am
It’s all about acceptance and enjoyment. You may not always get what you want, but you can always want what you get. You’ve got to be the prime mover in your own happiness. I didn’t want to be on oxygen all the time and in a wheelchair for long distances, but I can still go to chateaux along the Loire, the fjords in Norway, or just to work on the metro. Plus my grandkids love riding/driving the power chair. I got some pretty obnoxious genes, but a whole lot of good ones too. But I am lucky I have the circumstances to make all this work for me. There’s still plenty of bark left in this old dog.
April 20th, 2007 at 6:29 am
INteresting analogy
Makes me wonder which kinda dog I really am.
April 20th, 2007 at 9:37 am
Actually, I laughed, but in a good way…
Have you ever considered leading a cult?
April 20th, 2007 at 9:54 am
Very good parable - anything stimulate you to write that?
April 20th, 2007 at 10:33 am
Wow Tony, this was the morning I needed to see something like this. A reminder to take responsibility and own the situations I get into. Like this crap I inadvertently caused yesterday at work thats biting my ass this morning. I needed a perspective reset, you managed to make that heppen.
April 20th, 2007 at 10:38 am
im impressed. its a great analogy.
and be happy with what you have. you never know when you can lose it. but luckily things come to fill those places.
April 20th, 2007 at 11:09 am
Wow Tony! You just keep getting better and better. Just spent the morning talking with a nutritionist about giving up more of those foods that I love but that I need to avoid (You know–Bicuits, ham, mashed potatoes, beef, sweets). Rather than moaning about having to change my diet, I could be celebrating opportunities the change may provide. Give up rib-eyes and eat more tube steak !
April 20th, 2007 at 11:29 am
Interestingly cryptic. Perhaps I’m reading too much into this story, as I tend to do, but I think I understand the meanings implied. Very good!
April 20th, 2007 at 6:25 pm
There were once two cats sitting on a porch.
One was a tabby and one was a siamese.
The siamese decided to find a nice cool shady spot to nap. It was, after all, a hot day.
He spotted a nice shady tree and walked towards it. Stepping off the curb, he was immediately run down by a shiny black escalade driven by a woman arguing on her cell phone to her daughter who was at the mall purchasing excess carbohydrate products from cinnabon.
the end.
April 21st, 2007 at 4:59 am
hmmmmmmmmmm…
Thanks. This covers some crap I’m dealing with.
April 21st, 2007 at 9:33 am
I’m not surprised that you’re a person who chooses to take responsibility for what you’ve done and make the best out of it if you have to get another ball or if something you did made you lose your ball.
What ball did you lose? Is this referring to what I think it is?
April 21st, 2007 at 11:15 am
It’s Saturday morning and putting the past week into perspective is just the kick in the pants I needed.
Thanks for reminding me what role to play inorder to stay on course.
April 21st, 2007 at 3:54 pm
My favorite saying is “it is not your fault but, it is your problem”.
April 23rd, 2007 at 10:10 pm
you continue to really, truly (not in the silly gratuitous verbal jack off kind of way) AMAZE me.. what you pay attention to, what you absorb.. it’s the sign of genius (in my book) but most importantly, i love that you are interested enough to think it through and put it into words…in the sweetest way.. if i could love you more.. dammit!
April 24th, 2007 at 3:40 pm
That is exactly what I needed to read at this very moment. Thanks, Tony. Your brilliance once again illuminates the path on which I wish to remain.
May 7th, 2007 at 12:09 am
I think sadly that I’ve been one of the beagles, but I’m working on becoming one of the Labradors.
So if I know who the labrador, the greyhound and the collie (who you didn’t say much about) are, who is the pitbull and the jack russell?