Man's Best Friend Can Be Nasty

Leadership

If you own a dog, you have witnessed one of the most disgusting traits I have only seen from man's best friend. I've seen my dog, Louie, do it countless times, and each time I scratch my head and wonder what the attraction is. It starts with him eating something he shouldn't. A plastic bag (usually my fault), a jalapeño on the ground (also my fault), a sock (yeah, that's on me too), a bunch of cat food (his fault), or just his regular food too fast or table scraps that don't agree with him.

Shortly thereafter, up it comes. He just starts convulsing, gagging, and vomits up what was causing him problems, along with a whole bunch of other things that came with it. Now the gross part. He does a little walkabout, shakes it off, stretches his neck to loosen up a bit, and goes back over to the pile and starts to lick it back up. It's just nasty. And a perfect picture of our own human nature.

"As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness." (Proverbs 26:11)

The vomit in our lives is just warm and comfortable. Places and behaviors that offer comfort, escape, familiarity, and a sense of control. All lies that make us sick, but we go back and lick them up anyway.

The leader who is afraid to delegate for fear of something not being done right. Having to control every aspect of the team to justify their importance or control every outcome.
The workaholic who fears the business will crash if they aren't available 24/7
The Mom who robs their children of the constructive failure needed to become a productive adult
The extra glass of wine or one more episode before going to sleep, which creates a morning of regret
The inability to not open your mouth, avoid a temptation, say something cutting at just the wrong time, drive too fast, sleep too long, rest too little, or lose another battle to a cheeseburger and fries.

We all have things we go back to. Things that bring comfort. Well, folks, it's time to get uncomfortable. Nothing good comes without sacrifice, and it's not a sacrifice until you don't like it. And that's uncomfortable.

Where in your life to keep going back to the things that aren't helping you get better? Things that keep making you sick, stagnate, tired, or cause issues. Things that are comfortable, but not the best.

Pick an area to get uncomfortable and commit to working on that today. Find some help. Someone to clean up the vomit before you can run back to lick it up. Break the foolish habits, sacrifice something, and produce a better future. There are a lot of things we can learn from our dogs, things we should do more of, and one nasty habit we should avoid!