If we lived our lives like a dog lives their life, the world would be a better place. We'd be happy with the same food every day. We'd wag our tail a lot. We'd be happy even if our walk was occasionally cut short and wouldn't whine about it. We'd sniff each other's butts and...Okay, perhaps that is one canine habit we don't have to adopt.
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| Foley---not the brightest bulb...I think he's looking up at the sun, thinking, 'Hey! That's a really huge ball. I wonder when they'll throw it for me?' |
On Sunday we had a family get-together at my mother-in-law's; since she lives just a couple of blocks from us, at some point, my husband got Foley and brought him down.
My granddaughter, who's five, loved the idea of being in charge of someone/something else. After all, she's told all day what to do and how to do it and when to do it. So she was enthralled with being able to walk Foley around on his leash.
Unfortunately, Foley was not thrilled. He was in a fenced-in yard. 'What's with the leash?' he wondered. He wanted to play ball. Being led around by a little kid was stupid, from his perspective.
But he tolerated it. And made the best of the situation. As Riley walked him around, he got to smell a few good smells. There were breaks where she'd drop the leash and he'd get to chase the ball for a while.
As writers, as teachers, as humans doing their best to keep their head above the water--here's my lame analogy, Hope--we try to make a bad situation work for us. If we get a piece rejected, we revise it so we can submit it to a different publication. If we face writer's block head on, we put the piece away for a while and let it marinade. If we get a story shot down, we tweak it, we revamp it, and send it out again.
Be like Foley. Turn a negative situation inside out...Put a positive spin on it. And don't stop trying...
