IS GOOD GOOD ENOUGH?

Growing up in a middle-class neighborhood, getting B- grades in school, being chosen 5th out of 11 for the block football team, being promoted with peers, being in the top 40 percent in income, having 2.5 children, living in a house costing $10,000 more than the median.

That's all good, right? Yes, but that much good can be bad.

When what you have is desired by 3/4 of the world's population, your drive to improve is weakened, because not much more is expected of you. If as a kid you were consistently picked 11 out of 11, a desire may have been triggered to "show them" by improving so to became more wanted by the others. Or you might say, "the heck with it," and never play football again. Being picked 5th is good -- good enough.

When making $5000 more in yearly income than you ever dreamed you would make is good, where is the incentive to exceed your dream by even more? It takes significant effort and energy to move to the next level in life. When you are hurting, miserable and down, that effort becomes worth making. When your life is "good," that effort is often seen as not worth expending.

Frequently in stories of successful people, we read of their disadvantaged background or possibly they came from great wealth and managed to keep and/or increase their fortune. How much do you read about successful people who started out just a tad above average? Either they don't make good copy or there are not too many of them.

I believe climbing to the top from the bottom is easier than climbing from the middle to the top.


Lesson: The major obstacle to being great tomorrow is being good today.

OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF DOGS

Our big, old Lab Lucky loved to chase rabbits. This dog chasing rabbits was not as pretty a picture as you might think. Lucky had heart disease, a severely enlarged heart (in more ways than one) which was not working well enough to pump waste fluids from his body. The vet, in telling us about the situation, said Lucky probably should rest as much as possible. We decided not to share that news with Lucky and let him do what comes naturally. He wanted to chase rabbits. We knew that he may die doing just that, but meanwhile he would enjoy his life. His body may place limitations on him in the future, but in the present his dog brain was not telling him he "can't."

Animals, being a lower form of being than humans (in most cases), know precisely what they can and can't do--"I can lick myself all over, but I can't drive a car in heavy traffic."

"Can't" is a contraction for can not, which literally means impossible. We all have many reasons we can't. Some of our "can'ts" are actualities-- mental or physical impossibilities like that licking all over thing. Others have no basis in reality. Have you ever heard anyone say "Oh! I can't drive in heavy traffic." Chances are they can, the truth is they choose not to.

The Luckys of this world can be a reminder to us to separate the real impossibilities from the limitations we place on ourselves just to keep comfortable and safe. Remember there is no complete comfort or safety, but there is a lot of fun, excitement and thrills to be missed when we mistakenly substitute "I can't" for "I don't choose to."

I have noticed over the years that, beside can't, there are other words thankfully missing from our horses', dogs' and cats' vocabulary. Power depleting words and phrases like; "Never," "It's not fair," "Have to," "That's just me," "I've always been that way," I can't help it," and "That's just my nature."

We humans are the only ones of God's creatures who not only know their limitations but will also limit themselves without any logical reason to do so.

While Lucky has since chased his last rabbit over the Rainbow Bridge we know one thing, we can forget him we just don't choose to.

Lesson: "I can't" is a contraction in life as well as in language.