Here is another metaphor for you:
Think about a lake with a cute little family of ducks swimming around. They are peaceful and content with the world in which they live. Now they see you and they see that you have bread crumbs for them. They paddle their little feet toward you and hop out of the water effortlessly, shake their little tails and they waddle over to eat your breadcrumbs. Pretty simple, right?
Now…consider you are at the same lake and you see a dog swimming across. It’s doing the dog paddle with much effort, tiring itself out. As it sees you pull out the bag of bread, it turns toward you and makes a b-line for the shore. You immediately have the thought “oh no…” and sure as you assumed, the dog drags itself out of the lake and heads toward you. Then in shakes…and shakes…and shakes. Does it smell good, heavens no…that dog STINKS and it’s wet. No matter how much it rubs on the ground, shakes itself off and runs in circles, the dog stays stinky and wet. No one wants to be around a wet dog.
Who do you want to be? In this metaphor, the pond is life. Life will throw all kinds of stuff at you. Whether it’s an insult from a peer, a difficult to interpret look from someone, financial problems, fatigue, etc…It is your choice whether you shake your tail and move on without overly attaching to the situation or whether you allow it to soak into your being and weigh you down. If someone looks at you funny or says something to you, just move on….let it go…head up, shoulders back. If you make a mistake paying a bill, you have a choice between berating yourself and getting depressed or owning up to it, fixing it and moving on!
Remember also that your emotional reaction affects others…fewer people want to be around a smelly wet dog; just as fewer people will want to be around a negative, pessimistic person. People DO want to be around a level-headed and emotionally stable person! You attract what you put out there, make sure you are attracting the right kind of friends.
