Never give up

This......is Pumpkin.

He is the most determined, clever, ingenious dog I have ever met.  You see, Pumpkin is bad.  Just down right bad.  That's why he's not allowed in the living room when no one is home.  To keep him out of the living room we block off the room with a huge piece of plywood.   That seemed to work.  Little did we know that all the while he had been formulating a plan.  Here's the plan (as we see it anyway...) He carefully pushes the dining room chair out from under the table.  Then he carefully jumps on the chair, making it easier to jump onto the dining room table.  Then he figures he has a better chance of jumping over the plywood.  So far, he hasn't figured out that part.  Knowing Pumpkin.....it won't be long before you figures it out.  NOTHING CAN STOP A BEAGLE FROM GETTING WHAT HE WANTS..... NOTHING.... Not even an iron dog crate. 

This...... is Ganesha

Ganesha's story goes something like this....He was chosen to be the scribe of the ancient yoga knowledge. The deal was that he was to write down the knowledge without stopping.  If he stopped for any reason the connection to the Divine wisdom would be broken and the information would be lost forever.  (No pressure, right?).  Somewhere along the way his pen broke so he broke off one of his tusks and used it as the pen. When the ink dried up he used his own blood as the ink..... How's that for perseverance and determination????

Then there's me..... I really did think of myself as being determined and I certainly felt like perseverance was one of my attributes.  Until today that is.  Today I realized that when I make the decision that I can't do something, for whatever reason, I simply shut down.  I close the door and move on.  Pumpkin notices he can't enter the room one way so he figures out another way.  Ganesha can't finish writing with the broken pen so he thinks of another way.  Me, I can't do it so I give up.  Fascinating!!   Finally the light bulb came on today.  Just because I can't do something one way doesn't mean I can't figure out another way to do it that I am more comfortable with.   There must be 100 ways for Pumpkin to make his way into the living room.  He's going to try all 100 until he finds the one the works best for him.  Why the hell do I stop after one try??

With examples of fierce determination like Pumpkin and Ganesha....We can longer say we can't do this or that.  We must try to find the way that works best for us and not quit until we have  exhausted every possibility first.   These traits of determination and perseverance can be strengthened with practice.  Like the muscles in our bodies, the more we use them, the stronger they become.  The stronger they become, the easier it becomes to accomplish seemingly impossible tasks.

Jai Ganesha!  Jai Pumpkin!