One fine sunny day a traveller was walking down a dusty road past a farm by an old country town.
Suddenly he heard a terrible howling noise. He looked around but couldn’t see where it was coming from, so he kept walking.
Further down the lane he came to a gate at the farm entrance, where he could now see the farmouse. In front of the house he could see a large kennel with a massive dog’s head and two large paws sticking out from the front.
He saw the farmer working nearby and waved hello. The farmer smiled and waved back.
Suddenly the awful howling noise struck up again. The traveller realised that it was coming from that dog in the kennel.
“Hi there, Sir.” he shouted to the farmer.
“Lovely day, ain’t it!” responded the local.
“Excuse me Sir, but is that your dog making that terrible noise?”
The dog let out a bloodcurdling howl once more.
“Sure is.” answered the farmer.
“Well, is he in pain or something. It surely sounds like he is.”
The farmer stopped what he was doing and sauntered over to shake hands with the traveller.
“Yes, my friend I’m afraid he is. I’ve been meaning to fix it, but there’s a nail in that there kennel, that’s sticking out ya see. Every time he sits down in that there kennel, he sits on that there nail and it’s a real pain in the butt for the critter”
The traveller was shocked and he said, “Well surely he must know what’s causing it then, so if he knows it’s a pain in the butt, why doesn’t he move, or sit somewhere else or do something different?”
“Well, my friend”, continued the farmer, “It’s really quite simple.”
“That dog’s been around folks so long, he’s practically human. He’s just like us really. You see the nail hurts just enough to give the big fella something to whimper and whine about – it just don’t hurt quite badly enough for him to actually do anything different!”
*****
Tony's View
The moral of the story: If something in your life is giving you a pain in the butt, and it’s something about which you have the power to create a change, stop whingeing or feeling sorry for yourself and take action!
If you think you can, you can! Do it now!
So often in our lives, we act just like that dog in his kennel. We whimper and whine to anyone who’ll listen to our terrible problems, but in reality, if we just got off our butts and out of our comfort zone, we can take back the power to change our own lives, to create our own destiny.
Some of the main excuses people give is that they are too old, too tired, and too broke.
That’s just baloney! You’re never too old. I’ve been running a City to Surf 12 km run, thinking I’m doing all right for an old middle-aged git. Then I look around and see someone about 90 overtaking me!
Tiredness? We all feel that in today’s hectic world, but it’s amazing how when you set your mind on achieving something and start to take action, the tiredness disappears! I’ve played sports and there were days when I didn’t feel like training. I was too tired from work. I also found that when I kicked my own butt out through the front door and went training, I came home feeling fantastic!
Too broke? Who isn’t? Whose fault is that though? – Yours or everyone else’s? If you look for ways of saving money or making extra money, both of which help achieve the same goal, then I reckon there’s a pretty good chance you’d enjoy the opportunities I came across recently.
Check out this site for ways of saving money on great vacations, staying in 5 star places at as low as 1 star prices…
Tony Inman is an author of several books, mostly in the self-help arena.
An entrepreneur with over 40 years of leadership & management experience in numerous companies in Europe and Australia, Tony has founded many of his own businesses in several fields, employing hundreds of staff and generating millions of dollars.
He has worked with thousands of people, including many small business owners all over the world to develop and implement strategies for effective change and the achievement of their unique definition of success.
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