Monday, June 23, 2008

Wednesday's the Day!...Feeling Lucky?...

We confirmed our Dr's visit for Wednesday. This is the day we'll find out if you are little Mr. Bay-Bee or little Miss Bay-Bee. :) How cool is that?! Either way, I am excited. Momma is excited. It will be good to "know".

I still don't think either momma or papa know what to expect come November. Momma says she is going to work and plan around it. I made plans to speak at a conference. Are we insane!? :) We have a huge reality check coming with your birthday! Going to be fun.

Today's lesson is about the dog. Yes, Lucky dog is our dog. He's been with the family for 5 years now (longer than you and he'll probably remind you of that). Lucky has housebroken his parents (that's us). He has us trained very well. He'll probably train you well. He runs the household. Sometimes we have to leave events early so we can go home and get Lucky. :) Lucky is a high-spirited Jack Russell Terrier. He's your big brother. You'll have fun with him. He is a funny dog. He'll look at you like he knows what you are saying. He runs faster than a deer - a white blur as he scampers out the mistakenly left-open door. He plays ball with any visitors (you stand there, Lucky goes and chomps on a ball, he throws the ball off your foot, you're playing :). Right now, he's looking at me like, "hey don't say anything bad about me. Bay-Bee doesn't know me". I'm just warning you. He's a smart, crazy dog. Let me tell you a true story about Lucky...

First, Lucky IS lucky. I went to a listing appointment exactly five years ago this month. The owners were very nice people. They were being transferred to Texas (and eventually worked with a real estate agent friend of mine Rodney Shine in Texas) to a military facility. They were happy to have the family together and were going to live on base.

There was only one caveat: they could only take one dog. They owned two dogs. A lap dog Cocker Spaniel who had been with the family for years and Lucky who was just a puppy. When I arrived at the home, the owners had already given Lucky away twice only to have the families return him because he was too hyper-active. The owners said they were sad because they thought they may have to put him down or take him to the pound.

Lucky seemed to know that I provided hope because as I toured the home and the yard he walked right next to me. I said, "Why do you follow me little dog?" :) The owners and I put the paperwork together to put their home on the market and all the while Lucky sat there looking at me with his big brown eyes. I listed the house and called Sheri, "Honey, I'm bringing a dog home." Bless Sheri because she was supportive. The owners even gave me a dog carrier and a couple of chew toys. I could tell you dozens of funny (and some not-so-funny) stories about how Lucky trained us and I have to laugh at the memory of some of them (the obedience class, the chocolate candybar, the running off, the kitchen incidents) but one I want to relay today.

I was working in my home office which has a window to the back yard. I was on the phone watching Lucky out the back window when out of the corner of my eye I saw a blur with a white tail. A rabbit was making the trek across the back of our yard. In a blur, Lucky (on a long leash) took off after the rabbit. I was like, "Oh no, the leash is going to run out and jerk Lucky like never before." I was right. The leash ran out and flipped Lucky upside down. I cringed. It looked like a horse-collar tackle in football ("I think I broke his freaking neck" - Longest Yard).

Remarkably, the leash caught him, but the angle that Lucky flipped made his neck slip out of the collar. Lucky, a little shaken, shook his head and realizing that he was free took off after the rabbit. He was gone in a white flash. I knew better than to chase him down. I put some water and food by the back door and about 30 minutes later, Lucky returned.

Several days later, I was once again working in my home office. I happened to be watching Lucky again. I watched him as he kind of rocked back and forth like a high jumper or long jumper getting ready to jump. He rocked back, forward, back, then took off at full speed. No rabbit, no squirrel, no person walking. At a break-neck pace, he ran until the leash ran out. Upside-down Lucky flips and lands on his back. He rolls over and shakes his head. I am thinking, "What a goofy dog. What the heck is he doing?" He saunters back up to the patio right below my window. I watch him start rocking back and forth again. He takes off at a break neck pace again. Going even faster this time, Lucky runs out of leash. He flips upside down, wiggles his neck a little bit, and slips out of his collar. Flipping over and shaking his head, he realizes that his strategy worked and he was gone like a light. "Son of a gun", I shook MY head and thought what a stupid, brilliant dog I had.

The lesson here: What would you do to free yourself of your personal leashes? What would you do to achieve your goal? Would you step outside of your comfort zones (self-established leash) to explore what else is out there? Or do you live within your leash's limits not knowing or caring about what is out there if you pushed yourself, if you excelled, if you were to stand out? Lucky is an inspiration. He feels no bounds. He set a goal to be free to explore new horizons. He had to go through pain and suffering to shake his leash. Like us, he experienced the pain of going beyond what is comfortable and "what we know". Let Lucky be motivation for you and me to so something today that will astound somebody, will surprise somebody (even ourselves), will be so out of our comfort zone that is painful. Call that potential client. Call that difficult person. Take a walk at break. Take a gym trip. Get to work earlier. Get to each meeting 15 minutes early. Share this blog with friends. :)

Take care and have a great week!

To your success,

Bay-Bee's Papa (Michael)

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