No. 165 - THE DOG AND THE RABBIT

No. 165

Jim Davidson...NEWSPAPER COLUMN

THE DOG AND THE RABBIT

The other day I heard an interesting story that may be of some value to you. This story will be especially meaningful if you are bored with your job, your marriage, your school or maybe even some of your friends. Incidentally, the American editor and craftsman Elbert Hubbard once said that, "Boredom is the essential nature of monogamy." Now, you may have to think about that for a moment, but boredom is a disease more crippling to the human species than most of us realize.

If you will think about the divorce rate, decline in church attendance, lost sales and productivity and many other things along this line, and see boredom as a big part of the problem, you will begin to get the picture. The story I mentioned earlier is called "The Dog And The Rabbit." In an allegorical sense, as it relates to living a more exciting and fun filled life, I want to suggest that you learn to live your life like a dog chasing a rabbit.

Now, please stop for a moment and think about what I have just said. Have you ever had the opportunity to look at a dog's face while it was right in the middle of a rabbit chase? Well I have, and believe me, it is the most satisfying and enthusiastic sight you could ever see. You can be sure when a dog is chasing a rabbit, in his mind, he has something wonderful to do.

As it relates to what I am saying, here is something else to think about. How many rabbits can a dog chase at once? While there may be several rabbits running around at the same time, a dog is lucky if he catches even one. There is something else that I might also point out here. I've never seen a rabbit chasing a dog, have you? Most of the time the rabbit gets away but the dog's goal is always to catch him.

However, here is the real moral of the story. The fun is in the chase. Now, let me pause here and say something very important because if I fail to get this point across, I've done you a disservice, and even more so if you happen to be bored a good portion of your time. The rabbit is the GOAL, and the fun is in the CHASE. In other words, "No Goal, No Fun, at least not for long.

Can you see and understand what I am getting at? Life is only rewarding and interesting when we are working to attain something that is really important to us. While we may not even be aware of it at the time, when this element is added life takes on new meaning and in the process we are having a wonderful time.

As it relates to what I was saying earlier about being bored with our job, our marriage, our school and maybe some of our friends, the truth is, it may be our fault. In a sense, this is why some people like to travel. They are always moving, seeing new things and meeting new and interesting people. Our journey through life should be that way. Unless we are retired or on vacation, we should never get out of bed without something wonderful to do and something to look forward to.

If what I am saying has any merit in your life and you are not already doing this, here are a few suggestions to get started. First, visualize the rabbit chase and notice that the rabbit is always out front. That's the GOAL. Secondly, stop here and set some goals for yourself. Write them down on paper and decide on the single goal that is most important. Remember, the dog can only chase one rabbit at a time.

And lastly, focus on that goal that you want to achieve and get started and each day when you get out of bed you will have something to look forward to. As a result, life will take on new meaning and "boredom" will be a thing of the past. (Jim Davidson is a motivational speaker and syndicated columnist. You may contact him at 2 Bentley Drive, Conway, AR 72034.)