A Year of Gratitude - Day Ninety-one

Day 91 - Nothing But a Dog

The day started with the Portland Leadership Forum monthly meeting.  Cleon Cox presented.  

He began with a story (that I will have to paraphrase) about two old men driving a pickup truck down a rural side road approaching a highway.  The driver asked his companion if he saw anything on the highway coming toward the intersection.

“Nothin’ but a dog.”

With that, the driver didn’t even slow down as he entered the intersection, whereupon he was broadsided by a bus.

After his crumpled vehicle came to rest and establishing that both men had survived, the driver said to his companion, “I thought you said you saw nothing but a dog!”

“That’s right.  It was a Greyhound.”

This would be a fair analogy of my life of late.  I am way too busy.  I am rushing down this rural side road (that seemingly leads nowhere), and suddenly I’m broadsided by something “important” that I have to do.  It may be meeting someone for a networking coffee date, or rushing to one part of town or another for a meeting; it may be meeting four new contacts in one day; it may be facilitating a meeting, or (preferably) going to an interview.  By the end of the day, I feel as if I’ve been run over by a bus.  The problem is I have little or nothing to show for my efforts.  And I am what gets crumpled.

(...I used to think I had too many meetings when I was employed....)  

So this is supposed to be a gratitude blog.  What can I be grateful for as I think about the Greyhound as it approaches at breakneck speed?

That every time I get run over, there is a moment of quiet.  The crumpled vehicle comes to rest.  I get a moment - on occasion - to breathe.  I catch myself sighing from time to time, and realize I’m not breathing.  So I take a few deep breaths, and feel better.

I am grateful for those moments of peace.