This is Pattie Boyd, the inspiration behind Eric Clapton's classic rock song, "LAYLA". She married George Harrison of The Beatles first, and then moved on to Clapton later. But that's not the point of this post.
Of much more importance than rock stars smashing hot models is the fact that I named my puppy after the girl in the Clapton song. Much like her, the dog had me continually "on my knees" cleaning up after her potty-training accidents. Now, before I go out the door to my workplace, I put Layla in a crate so I won't have to spend so much time on my knees when I get home.
To get her in the mood to abandon her freedom, I offer her a dog treat, which seems like a ridiculous offer, but upon seeing the delicious tidbit, her eyes get wide and she excitedly runs inside the crate, waiting for me to catch up and give her the cookie as I slam the door of her prison. And when the cookie’s gone, she looks so sad, sitting there in her self-imposed exile. Fooled again...
She spends 3 hours in the Gray Bar Hotel before I come home on break and let her run around the yard. This is her routine 4 days a week. It never fails to amaze me that she gets so excited over that cookie; happily placing herself behind bars for that tiny dog treat.
She reminds me a lot of myself. Willingly imprisoned at a job to earn just enough money to survive. That's actually what J.O.B. stands for, ya’ know - "Just Over Broke".
While some may truly enjoy their job and value it as a lifegiving endeavor that stimulates the mind, soul and body, many of us daily trudge off to our soul-destroying gulag, trading our lives and our freedom for a cookie; for a wage that barely keeps our head above water. Some of us have done it for decades, slaving toward the promise that one day, when we’re old and our bodies are too broken down to enjoy life, we’ll finally be given our freedom.
In Layla’s defense, she’s a puppy. She doesn’t know any better. One day she might even mature enough to stay outside her crate for long stretches of time unsupervised. But if you, as an intelligent human being, find yourself repeatedly working a daily routine that is slowly killing you, grinding you down until you’re too worn out to care any longer, what’s your excuse?
My friend, Elvis introduced me to 3 questions that can begin to change your life and get you off the hamster wheel of "Just Over Broke". I suggest you really look at them, answer them honestly, and act upon them consistently. The questions are:
What does your dream life look like?
What would you do in your dream life?
What would you like to have in your dream life?
Today, I challenge you to begin meditating on these 3 questions, making the first steps toward freeing yourself from your self imposed crate. A little thought and a little sustained effort can take you a long way toward living your dream life. But first, it has to happen inside your mind.
Get ahold of me at "Team Apocalypse" on Facebook or email me at Dan@teamapocalypse.org, and I'll share with you what I'm doing to beat the "crate life".
Or you can continue to enjoy the cookie/cage life...
See you when you're ready...
Doc Dan
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