There once was a dog who was smart and cunning by the standards of any alley dog. He knew where to find the best scraps of food. He knew how to fend for himself and stay out of harm’s way. He was king of the alley. He wasn’t going to be conned by anyone. He learned the hard way that trusting others can get you into a lot of trouble, so he mostly looked out for “Número Uno” and tried not to get too tightly entangled in the affairs of others. He believed that other creatures (especially humans) were basically evil and that they were not to be trusted.
One day, he had just snagged a nice juicy bone and was looking for a good place to bury it so he could dig it up again and enjoy it when the pickings were slim. He remembered a time long ago when he had so foolishly traded a seductive reflection in the water for a real and tasty bone in his mouth. He vowed never to make that mistake again, so he decided to bury the bone for safekeeping.
Just then, along came a little boy. The boy looked straight at him with big, kind eyes and began to speak sweetly to him. The old dog had never seen a more likable expression on any creature’s face, man nor beast. And in his heart he longed to follow the little boy’s beckoning voice as he became somewhat entranced by it. The boy seemed to sense the dog’s open heart, so he inched a bit closer. And the boy raised his hand to pet the old dog, when the dog’s heart began to pound. Before the dog’s mind flashed images of sticks, hands, even guns raised with intention to harm the little dog in his youth. And the dog remembered what life had taught him– to trust no one and to look out for himself alone. To never again fully believe in the shimmering hope of what might be, only in the cold hard reality of what he can see, touch, or taste in the here and now.
The dog snapped and began growling and barking at the kind little boy. The boy, being only a child ran away, back to his nice, cozy home. A home where the boy and the would-be pet dog could have had three square meals a day, a home where they could have run and played together in every season, a home where they could have shared affection and joy that only a boy with his dog could have known.
As the boy ran, the dog began furiously digging in the ground. He told himself that he was glad to be away from the threat of a human touch, he despised that touch all the more because it was now so far from reach.
Little did the old dog realize that sometimes experience is a great teacher, and other times, it is the worst. That sometimes you need to hold on to what you have and sometimes you need to let go– for something far better. That sometimes following your heart will bring you closer to truth than following your five senses. Sometimes the best things in life defy your experience, and you miss them. They pass you by because you cannot allow yourself to believe that such good things just might be meant for you.
Moral: Always believe in something better.
Leading by Design 