#104 Poor little dog

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I didn’t know the strength I had.
Well maybe it wasn’t strength.
I didn’t know the rage I had.

Thank you for calling GIH where we instigate growth one call at a time where we utilize antiquated technology to deliver 3-minute leadership lessons every day of the week! This is message #104 and I am Aaron Havens.

My wife and I followed the typical path or getting married and then buying a puppy. We bought a cute black cocker spaniel. We named him Starflyer. We babied that little guy. He was our trial run for having kids. Years latter we had two toddler girls and a mid-life dog.

One particular weekend I was SOOO incredibly sick. My wife took our girls to her parents house for the weekend so I could rest up. I slept and slept and slept. ZERO energy. I want to say again, I was SOOO incredibly sick and had ZERO energy so that when I say what happened next, you’ll give me a little slack.

On the third day of sleeping I had had built up to maybe 3% energy and felt like I could finally make something to eat. I built up the motivation to go down stairs and make a sandwich. It was going to take me back to to zero percent energy and I knew it was important. Guess what? I did it. I made a wonderful sandwich. Right as I was putting away the supplies I looked over at the table and my precious little companion was chomping down on my sandwich.

Absolute rage came over me. I don’t know where I got the energy but I grabbed him, high stepped to the back porch, swung open the door and launched him into the air. The dude probably flew about 1000 feet. I slammed the door, went upstairs (without eating) and went to sleep.

Have you ever done something like that? My strength was impressive. My rage though, was a bit terrifying. As I started to feel better I began to reflect on my actions. Once again, my very lovely companion friend had taught me a lesson. Wow. I felt bad. I took it too far. At least it wasn’t on my girls!! Yeah, I had to apologize to him and a week later I made him his own sandwich.

Where have you caught yourself off guard lately. Words have come out of your mouth, actions have be done, mentalities have sunk in, you’ve treated others in a way that socks you. Where has “rage” or being uncentered, or out-of-sorts has gotten the best of you? What steps do you need to take to make sure that version of yourself doesn’t being the new version of you?

Thanks for calling in today. Tune in tomorrow for a fresh new topic! After the beep I’d like to know a time you shocked yourself and had to reflect on your words or actions.