They told me writing every day would benefit me. I could understand the discipline that would come. I knew there would begin to be a flow of ideas once I stuck the writing out for awhile.
Those were the benefits I knew would come before I even started. But there were so many unseen blessings of sitting down, every day, and putting my thoughts on my blog. Continue reading Hidden Benefits of Daily Writing
While working for a dog breeder, I faced one of the biggest possible fails I could have ever imagined.
Princess was a poodle we had just bought. I had been earning her trust, spending time with her every chance I had.
This was the day I decided to let her run loose for the first time. The country property was around 3 acres. But on the north side of those 3 acres ran the county highway. I knew Princess was headstrong, and I didn’t want to risk her running onto the highway. So up until this day, we had taken walks on a leash.
The poodle did just fine, until I called her to come to me. Then I saw the look: that fiery glance of denial, recognizable in every strong-willed character. Princess turned and ran straight for the highway.
“No, Princess!” I screamed in my mind. But my voice managed to remain calm as I softly called her.
She turned, and like a spoiled, haughty heir to the throne, she pranced onward toward her doom.
I watched the scene happen in my mind, before the catastrophe actually struck. I couldn’t run; Princess was a hundred yards ahead of me and determined that she would not be managed. And she ran out onto the road like an idiot.
That very moment, a small car sped down the road into the dog. Princess was gone in an instant. But I stood there, thunderstruck. I couldn’t get the sights and sounds out of my head: that thud of the car hitting her little body, then watching her roll on the road and lie still.
Not only was I emotionally traumatized because of seeing an animal I loved die; I felt awful because I knew she was a $600 dog. Besides, her worth to my boss was much more, as each of her potential pups would sell for at least $400 apiece. I was in charge of a huge loss for this small business.
So I slowly trudged my 13 year old self out to the road with a shovel. Not going to lie: I leaned on the shovel and cried. Thankfully a friend of our saw me and stopped to help me take poor Princess off the road.
My boss had watched the whole situation through the window. She understood that I had done everything I possibly could. That made the whole situation easier to bear. The battle was in my own mind.
I had faced the worst thing that could happen in the job that I was holding. But through this experience I gained an incredible mindset.
Even the worst possible scenario can’t take you down. Not unless you allow it to control you. I got up the next morning and loved those dogs with all my heart. I worked as hard as I could to make up for the loss. And greater than everything, I determined never to stop growing. Even if it means running into the biggest work fail ever.
