I would only like half....please!

The other day my wife and I were relaxing and flipping through the channels on the TV. Suddenly we came across a movie that was very nostalgic for us: Stripes.

I admit completely that I enjoy almost any movie that Bill Murray is in. He can make me laugh like almost no one else, save John Candy, on the big screen.

What was interesting is that after the wonderful scene where the troop showed during their graduation what they could truly do, to the consternation of almost everyone involved. Then suddenly they are sent to Italy in a new fangled RV/Weapon thingie.

And yes, thingie is a technical term....

Marybeth (who is continually much smarter than I am) commented that it was like two movies and only one was worth watching. That got me thinking...why in the world did the movie have two separate, distinct parts? Was it written by two different people? What was the logic behind it?

I am not sure we will ever know but it got me wondering about what all of you think. What movie would you only like to watch half off? And, would it be like Stripes where you would feel totally satisifed just watching that one half?

Grant's Lessons: Part 5

As you might have read, Grant is not particularly fond of males. The only thing that he is more wary of is a man on a bike. We are not sure why Grant doesn't like bikes (bicycle or motorcycle are the same to him!). Our guess is that he was abused, in one of the houses before he chose Marybeth, by someone who had some kind of bike.

Grant also scares easily. So when a man on a bike surprises him, he loses it! In an effort to help him conquer this fear, Marybeth and I took him outside with her bike. Marybeth got on the bike and I walked Grant next to her while she rode. Grant was not particularly happy she was on the bike but seemed okay. Marybeth and I switched places after a few minutes.

Grant didn't know what to do. He looked at me saying...."I like Michael but I don't like him on that bike!" He struggled against his leash and ended up nipping me on the leg. It drew blood but just a small amount. I use the word "nip" deliberately. I have no doubts that Grant could have ripped my leg to shreds if he chose to!

His experiences with bikes overrode his love (or tolerance in case Grant is reading this...you never know what he might do!) for me. He couldn't see beyond all his experiences in the past to the reality of me on the bike. I wasn't going to hurt him, I wasn't going to use the bike to taunt him. I simply wanted him to see that someone on a bike wasn't a horrible thing. He couldn't get past the idea that my experience in the past must repeat itself today. I think all of us have those kind of things in our lives. Experiences that scare us and color our reality so we don't see what is truly happening. And, we can't open ourselves up to the possibility that things can change!

It is a challenge to take a step back, not let our past color our present and open ourselves for possibilities in the present. Much easier said than done though.

In this experience, we saw two things:
1. Grant loves Marybeth more than me!
2. Just because our past experience tell us something, it doesn't mean it is true nor does it always fit the current situation.

Thanks G, you, like the rest of us, have much to learn! Marybeth and I will keep working with you....if you can conquer this, so can the rest of us.

Thanks for the inspiration!

Grant's Lessons: Part 4

Grant is much smarter than any of us give him credit...and we give him credit for a LOT!

Maizy our part beagle, part terrier, part whippet/greyhound, part steeplechase participant has found her true love in life: running. She especially likes running through tall weeds where she bounds with every step with her brother chasing her....sort of.

Grant is much more earthbound. So when we go to the dog park and Maizy bounds through the tall weeds, Grant runs along the path waiting for her to bound out and only then plays with her. He doesn't go into the overgrown area. Grant expends much less energy and time waiting for her to come out of the weeds but finds her every time.

Grant doesn't spend the time to run through the weeds (thank goodness, his allergies would drive him even more nuts if he did!) but waits for the opportune moment to surprise Maizy on the path. They both love it!

We can learn much from G. He doesn't spend any energy searching through tall weeds but waits until he can see what is going on. How many times do we go searching in crazy places rather than giving things the time to come to us? (Needle in the haystack sound familiar to anyone?) We search long and hard for things that would come to us anyway if we just gave it the time.

Here's to G for waiting for the good thing(s) to come his way. We have much to learn....thanks G!