April 30, 2017
Day 19
El Paso, Tx
Miles driven: 2,116
Currently Reading: The Last American Hitchhiker by Mark Kneeskern
Currently listening to: Raphael Mallfisch, Cello Concerto in G Minor, RV 417: II. Adante
To every thing there is a season.
Well it’s been almost 3 weeks on the road and we have already seen and learned a lot. One of the regular jobs that I have these days is keeping my 20-lb schnauzer out of trouble. It seems that his friendly and curious nature throws caution to the wind and he ends up getting into all sorts of trouble. Let me just list a few things that this dog has already done in the past 19 days:
1. Escaped out of the teepee in Marfa and made friends with the hippies in the drum circle.
2. Got in a dog fight at the food truck in Marfa.
3. Got in a dog fight outside the general store in Terlingua
4. Swam across the Rio Grande into Mexico and took significant effort to get back.
5. Jumped into a pit of poisonous snakes in the Big Bend National Park – Seriously, I had to pull him out by his head as a swarm of snakes were swimming all around him.
6. Got in another dog fight outside of the general store in Terlingua
7. Got in a fight with a drunk lady outside of the general store in Terlingua.
8. Got in a dog fight with the same dog from the general store in Terlingua (the first one), but this time he wandered over to their campsite.
(One quick note. Outside the general store in Terlingua is a very rough place)
I kept getting frustrated by all of his “adventures” until I had a conversation with a good friend of mine after I told her a few of these stories. And as always, she put reality into words I could understand.
“Ryan, he is YOUR dog. Would you expect anything less? Seriously, I am surprised he hasn’t gotten into more trouble.”
So in lies the point. Who you are, your personality, your presence, the way you conduct yourself will always have an impact on those around you. I am not cliché enough to say “Only let the good shine out into the world so everyone is happy.” Anger and frustration are as equally a part of the human experience as happiness and love. A life that was just happy all the time, without any conflict to grow from, would be so incredibly boring. Anger fueled our founding fathers to dissent against England and create America. Frustration has driven the greatest athletes of all time to master their craft. It is a fire in the gut that can ultimately lead to remarkable things happening. But it must be controlled and used appropriately.
But both sides of the spectrum are equally dangerous. Uncontrolled anger can result in violence, ruined relationships and even wars have been fought over unchecked remarks. Whereas too much positivity deludes someone into thinking everything will always be fine and they become overly-sensitive weaklings.
So in the immortal words of Ecclesiastes 3:1, or if you prefer, The Byrd’s 1965 song “Turn, Turn, Turn:”
“To everything there is a season.”
Sometimes we need anger, sometimes we need love.
Sometimes we need to be together, sometimes alone.
Sometimes we need to speak, sometimes we need to keep our mouths shut and listen.
True wisdom is recognizing when to do one verses the other because no matter which one you choose, the effect of that decision will be felt by all those around you.
Now if I could just get this dog to stop getting into fights, that’d be great.