Yesterday was a cold and rainy day in Cincinnati. But my dogs don’t care. They still want to be walked or run. So I gave in. I don’t know if I walk my dogs or they walk me, but we both benefit.
After our walk, they often like to be tethered in the front yard to finish any last minute “duties” and savor those final moments of fresh air. Yesterday was no exception. So as I carried their leashes, collars and pack into the house, I let them run around the yard.
When I returned a couple minutes later, a pungent odor alerted me they had in fact taken care of some “business.” I let Buddy off the tether and he ran into the house while I attended to Lucy. But her cable was tangled.
As I untangled the cable, I felt my foot slip just a bit, that unpleasant signal that maybe I’ve stepped where dogs have dropped. A quick glance down confirmed my suspicion. Great! Poo on my shoe! And not just a little.
So what do you do when you get poo on your shoe?
In my mind, there are two options:
- Take the shoes off and leave them outside for a more convenient time. But that’s just postponing the inevitable since there is never really a convenient time to clean crap off your shoes.
- Get to cleaning.
What you don’t do is take the dirty shoes inside. That’s something I might have done as a child. But as an adult I know no good comes of taking dog poo shoes into the house. Malodorous memories of crap-caked shoes flaking around the house have taught me better.
As I searched the yard for thick, hearty patches of grass and twigs of just the right size, I realized this poo was like so many of life’s missteps. We’ve all stepped in things at times we shouldn’t.
Relationships are especially full of missteps. They’re messy. We aren’t perfect. No one is. So we say and do things we shouldn’t. Then we have some of life’s smelly poo stuck to us.
But rather than scrape it off and leave it outside we often carry it inside and track the goo and odor throughout our home, tainting what should be a place of safety, security and sanity.
During this season of Christmas and New Years, why not take a close look at your relationships and see whether you’ve stepped in some poo at some time and forgot to scrape it off. Are you still carrying around crap from the past, that’s now dry and flaky and matted with grass and daily dirt?
Today’s a good time to scrape all that old stuff off and start anew. If you’ve had problems with friends or family in the past, just let it go. You don’t have to dig it up and relive it this holiday season. Just be an adult and let it go.
Your family gatherings will be much more pleasant and far less stinky if you leave the crap outside.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Robert
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Image: Mike Spray
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Robert is the founder of RobertRizzo.com | Mediocrity-Free Living. He is passionate about helping people discover the rewards of daily giving.
