Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Lessons from a Stray Dog


I saw something on my way to work this morning that has stuck with me all day.  As I was driving, I saw a truck stopped ahead of me with flashing lights.  As I approached it, I saw that the letters on the truck read “Animal Control.”  I slowed down as I passed the truck and saw a man trying to coax a dog to come towards him.  The dog looked like a German Sheppard, possibly a stray, and quite thin.  The poor thing looked terrified.  It was cowering away from the animal control man with its head down and tail between the legs.  The sight of a scared animal absolutely breaks my heart. 

I was struck by how sad it made me to see that dog acting so afraid.  I started to think about how I rarely have the same response to my own fear.  Sadness?  Sure, I am sad for people who I see struggling with fear.  It makes me sad to see people not reach their goals or their potential because fear is holding them back, but how often do I ever apply this to my own life?

A friend of mine recently told me that she was giving up fear for lent. She is committed to living 40 days without fear.  What an amazing concept.  Ever since she told me about her idea, I’ve been thinking about my own fear- but not until this morning did the sadness of fear occur to me.  Now I am starting to understand how sad it will be for me if I let fear hold me back from the things I want to accomplish.  I have a mind full of ideas and dreams for the future, but my fear of failure has been keeping me back from even starting to pursue these things.  So, today I want to thank my friend who is living without fear, and the stray dog who helped deliver this message to me.

2 comments:

  1. great mindset girl. this is something i desperately need to work on too!

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  2. Love this! I struggle with fear constantly....such a great thing to think about. <3

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