When Nature Calls…
Earlier today I was reminded of a lesson in an unexpected way. The day started off pretty good, having a nice breakfast with the wife and kids before the day got going. I totally forgot, however, to check my schedule before enjoying a relaxing morning a little too much. A full docket of meetings were beginning to creep up all too quickly.
I then noticed out of the corner of my eye the dreaded…DOG STARE. You know, when your furry little friend is patiently, or maybe not so patiently, letting you know that you better get them outside soon. Here’s the look I’m lucky enough to get every morning and every evening…
So it went from a nice easy morning to now having to get this guy outside, feed him, help the wife get all the kids ready and get to my computer before having to dig in to an endless supply of meetings. Oh yea, hopefully I could find a few minutes to brush my teeth somewhere in there.
Tuck and I ventured out and given my need to make it quick, he was obviously driving me insane. Here he was getting about 95% of his pee out right away but saving the remaining 5% for every plant, leaf and shrub along the way. I’m pretty sure he was doing it just to get back at me for taking him out later than I normally would.
You Answer
Though it was not what I wanted to be doing, he did give me a few minutes to step away from it all and think a bit. I watched him trot along leisurely and couldn’t help but think of something I had recently read in the Tao Te Ching:
Mastery of the world is achieved by letting things take their natural course.
If you interfere with the way of Nature, you can never master the world.
Tao Te Ching, Chapter 48
Tuck was doing exactly what he should be doing – being a dog. My wife and I were the ones that decided to welcome this dog into our family and now here I was, getting frustrated because he’s doing exactly what is in his nature. He wanted to go to the bathroom in the morning and have some breakfast…how dare he, right? I was the one in a rush because I forgot to plan properly for the day so I probably shouldn’t expect my dog to care about that.
The Lesson
One of the big themes of Stoicism and Taoism that I’ve taken from my reading is the importance of living in accordance with nature. I won’t pretend to be the authority on what exactly this means but to me, it simply means that all things in life are going to do what they’re supposed to do.
- Some people are going to be jealous and some are not.
- Some people are going to be happy and some are not.
- At times, kids are going to be crazy, fresh, messy, loud and annoying.
- At times, kids are going to be sweet and loving.
- Your job will be demanding and stressful…why else would they pay you?
- Dogs are going to love you if you take care of them…and be sure they are going to want you to take them to the bathroom every morning 🙂 .
You simply need to accept that all of this is going to happen. If you don’t, you’re going to drive yourself crazy trying to change someone or something that is never likely to change.
Apply This Lesson in Your Life…Today
Take a step back from your crazy day, just like Tucker made me do, and chew on this one for a bit. Think about what is currently stressing you out or pissing you off. Ask yourself:
- Is this something that is in accordance with nature and I probably could have expected it to be happening?
- Nature, of course, doesn’t have to mean being out in the woods. Think deeper than that.
- Think of being a husband, dad, manager, owning a house, leasing a car or whatever is appropriate for your life. All of these things come with responsibilities, which on some level you acknowledged when you took them. You should expect them to come so don’t get frustrated when it’s time to pay the piper.
- Is this something I can control?
- If you can, that’s great! Go out and do something about it. Don’t get frustrated if it’s too big of a task to take on, just start small.
- If you can’t, then don’t get frustrated about it. You’ll be wasting your precious time and energy on nothing. You’d be far better off focusing on yourself, getting stronger and thinking positively.