Musings of An Eclectic Cowboy
Chasing Squirrels
February 19, 2009
We have two dogs one is a Catahoula Cur by the name of Killer who by the way is one of the sweetest dogs you have ever met. The other one is a little Rat Terrier by the name of Oreo who will rip your ankle off if she gets half a chance. We have had these dogs for a good 4 or 5 years now and they absolutely love to chase squirrels. They will sit out under the trees for hours on end trying to sneak up on the squirrels, trying to scare them out of the trees by barking at them and by actually trying to shake them out of the trees. They have tried absolutely everything including climbing to catch one of those squirrels. And you would think that after 4 or 5 years of doing this that they would give up and quit trying to catch one but they still keep trying with all of the energy, and excitement that they have always had.
How many times have we chased our squirrels only to give up in the end. How many times have we felt like we have beaten our heads against a brick wall finally deciding that it was a total waste of time. This type of thing happens to us all of the time. We have a dream, we want to start a new business, we want to start a new ministry. We want to take a chance and chase an elusive squirrel. But then when we don't succeed and catch that squirrel then we quit and try and forget our dream.
Now does that mean that we should never quit? No, there are times when we get to the point that we are basically throwing good money after bad and it is time to let it go. But a lot of times we just need to reevaluate our dreams and goals. For example as far as I know these dogs have never caught a squirrel but we had a Border Collie several years ago that caught squirrels on a regular basis. That dog would lie under a tree for hours on end and never move. Eventually a squirrel would come down forgetting that she was down there and then it would all be over.
If you are getting ready to give up because that dream just seems to be unattainable. Then I challenge you to step back and reevaluate how you are doing things. See if there might just be another way to reach that dream. Don't give up because God gave you that dream for a reason. I know that I will not be surprised if one of these days I look outside and our dogs are playing with a dead squirrel.
Vaya Con Dios
The Eclectic Cowboy
Winfield Davenport