I'm Supposed to Love My Neighbor as Myself, BUT Myself Doesn't Have a Barking Dog!

Day 56 of Photo Inspirations:  I'm Supposed to Love My Neighbor as Myself....BUT Myself Doesn't Have a Barking Dog!

I live in the most amazing community with some delightful residents in it, except for a few cranky ones.  But, cranky, is just the nature of some folks.  

So that was my dilemma.  When wonderful new residents moved in......so did their two large dogs.  In a new community where there's cement trucks,  contractors hammering or sawing, geese, walkers, etc.-- those dogs have every excuse in the world to do what they do so naturally: BARK, BARK, BARK!  They have a dog door, so when their owners are at work, they can go in and out all day. Not wanting to be one of the CRANKY neighbors, I sucked it in.  I thanked God that I had such good ears that could hear them. I prayed. I put louder music on to drown out their incessant barking. But, I (and other neighbors) had enough.  

I spoke to their Builder and asked his advice.  He recommended that I get a device that uses ultrasonic sound to deter their barking.  It's completely safe and detects barking up to 50 feet away.  And he told me where I could find one.  $70 later I came home with my solution for a quiet and peaceful day. Quite slyly, I sat out my little "miracle birdhouse" and it appeared to work.  The barking seemed to curb, but not for long.  I think they got wise and stayed more than 50 feet away -- most of the time.

"Okay, I'll bite the bullet and go meet with the dogs' owners."  And,  I did that last night.  And by the way, the dogs were NOT barking -- because their masters were home. They were happy campers.  What beautiful people they are and after a little chit chat and expessing how apologetic I was to have to be there, I announced that their barking dogs were giving the neighbors a lot of grief.  I took a deep breath to hear how they took it.....and, to my absolute joy, they were so apologetic, so willing to do whatever it takes to rectify the situation.  I was told that the owner comes home at noon everyday and could let the dogs out then, instead of leaving the dog door open all day for free rein.  Whew!  Friendship salvaged.

Why did I share this story with you?  I wanted you to learn from my experience.  I could have saved $70 and a lot of frustration and lack of peace if I had only talked to them in a kind and loving way in the first place.  I didn't want to risk a friendship -- but as it turned out a friendship was strengthened because of my honesty and true desire to help the cause.  Once again, I defer to the best Role Model -- Who handled difficult situations and difficult people in exemplary ways.  Our behavior toward people really does influence their behavior toward us.  It's up to us to take the high road to convey warmth, to seek the ultimate good for others, to build up and not destroy, and to forgive.   It's ALL about LOVE!   Love draws out the best in people and situations.  Bottom line...if love is at the core of our motives, then LOVE will conquer ALL.
#BarkingDogsMakesBarkingPeople  #LoveConquers

It's Time to Make a Change

A blender is a necessity at my house. I make a lot of thick protein-packed smoothies and lots of thick milk shakes for my grandkids when they come to town. The blender gets a good work-out. I've gone through several because I always bought the lower-priced version -- thinking it would do, but after a few weeks or months, the machine just can't take the work-out it was not intended for, and, like the others, it sees its last days. Last week, I was making one of those yummy thick shakes for my granddaughter, and once again, the blender broke. This time I got the message loud and clear -- "CHANGE". Pay a little more and get one that will last. It took several trips around the same mountain of purchase cheap-o -- cheap-o breaks -- and REPEAT, before I got it. BUT, this time, I decided to bite the bullet and pay triple the cost of the ones I'd purchased before. To my wonder and amazement, when I made my protein smoothie this morning, my turbo charged, 700 watt, stainless-steel blade, wonder machine made the smoothie without labor and in 1/4 time it usually did before. I scolded myself for waiting so long to make the CHANGE.

I thought about Albert Einstein's famous quote "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." It’s easy to cozy up to the comfort of traditional ways of doing things. It’s easy to find excuses about why things can’t be different. But the thing is, if we keep doing things the way we’ve always done things, we’ll keep getting the same things we’ve always gotten -- things like unhealthy relationships, passionless work, extra pounds, financial struggle, low self-esteem, a cheap-o blender!! What is it that we need to "bite the bullet" about today? How can life be different for us -- so different that we wake-up with a smile on our face, we feel light-hearted, and we get new determination to make a CHANGE!

If we want things to change—if we want different results in our life in any area—it's time to make a decision to CHANGE. It's time to stop the frustrations, the time wasters, the energy consumers and GET THAT NEW BLENDER, or the new job, or the new car, or the new perspective. It's time to make a CHANGE!