10 + things that have shaped my life.

 10 + things that have shaped my life 

Up to today.

If I had made this list 10 years ago it would be different and I guess if I revisit this in 10 years it will be different again.  Some points have been on my list since I was a teen, #1 and #9 for example.   Then I have some I learned later in life in my 30s like #3.  I have just recently learned the importance of #10.   I have also dropped some off.   Never let common sense and fear get in your way used to be important.    This one left a few years ago when my age started to have an impact on the risks I might take.   I do not think I will ever go back to Africa and gallop a horse with a herd of wildebeest, zebra and giraffe again.  

 This is my list as of today. 

1. There is no substitute for good quality work ethic.  Show up on time, do your best, impress your coworkers and your boss.  As an employee, your job is to make my bosses life easier and not put undue burden on co-workers.   
   
2. Be willing to put in the time and effort. If you want to do something but it is too hard or the rewards are far away.  Do it anyway.  You will be proud of your success and want to do more.   Pretty soon the time and effort are insignificant compared to the feeling of achievement.
3. The more I know the more I don’t know. Every time I feel like I am opening that secret last door of knowledge there is hallway with 10 more doors.  This helps keep me humble. 
4. Toss out the 10,000 hour rule, you are never an expert. You can always do better.   The Peter Principle is that people rise to their highest level of incompetence.   They say the cream rises and then always sours.  For me I always try to get there quickly so I can fall back down and work my way up again.    Each time you rise (it is a new journey) and you go a bit higher.   I guess you could say three steps forward and two back.   This can also relate to getting into an uncomfortable zone and working hard to get thru it only to keep going and hit another zone.   This is life.
5. Network with people who have qualities you admire or wish to have.    We imitate and learn from others.  Others also help us to succeed.  Simply put if you hang out with people who drink, curse and do nothing, you can guess what you will be doing.   If you hang out with people who like to party and stay up late you might find you have a lot of hangovers.   You decide your course and who you want to follow or be friends with.   Your friends will help you achieve your goals while they achieve theirs. 
6. Return phone calls and answer emails promptly.  I believe this is the number #1 secret to success.  My business is 23 years old this year.   Personally I cannot believe it.  Covid has not taken us out.   I believe more than 80% of our success of my business is that we always answer phones calls and emails immediately.   We follow thru and solve problems fast.    It is easy to make a sale, it is hard to keep it and hard to keep more coming without the quality follow thru.  This has translated to my personal life as well.    
   
7. It really is all about the journey.   Once you achieve your dreams, your mind creates new problems. New desires start to fill your mind of where to and what to next.   Spend more time enjoying longer journeys.
8. Be generous for no reason at all.  Have you ever said “I did this thing for that other person and they never said thank you?”  Yeah, I think we all have.   Just stop doing that.   If you are doing something in hopes of a reward don’t do it.   If you are doing something because it is enough that it will make you feel good go ahead.     
9. Always be grateful when the sun is shining and your car starts.   This is something I have said since I was a teen when cars were not so reliable and it was easy to have a cloudy day even if the actual sun was out.    I use it as a metaphor that relates to me being healthy, alive and with a clear mind.   If I had this there was nothing else that mattered.  
10. Be a student.   Never stop formally learning.   It can be very satisfying to take classes, do seminars, or travel with a learning purpose.   There is always time to get a degree or take some certificate courses especially as you get older.   Lately I have been saying that education is wasted on the young.   No matter how old you are continue getting educated. 
11. Bonus point: Be accountable and don’t blame others.  Accept that you are the keeper of your path and destiny.   Don’t turn the controls over to anyone.   You can partner with others but always keep your own steering wheel.   If something goes wrong look to yourself and what happened and how you can avoid it in the future.

Congratulations! You have just passed Serpent Level XII

Last evening we had a rattlesnake encounter.   When I say “we” I mean me and 4 bitches.  Every night I go out and change sprinklers, do some hand watering, enjoy the garden and I bring my girls with me.   I went out a bit later than usual so it was more like dusk, you know the time when it starts getting darker fast.   So I was in a casual hurry. 

I was at the back of the house and getting ready to go over a wall and turn off some sprinklers when I heard the ominous sound of a rattle. It did not register as an actual snake just a weird noise. I turned around and all 4 bitches were in a surround face off with a rattlesnake from a cautiously curious distance. I could see the snake’s blurry outline in the dark on the lawn. The rattle was surprisingly loud. To be honest it is the first time I have actually ever heard a real one in person.  The dogs were in a cartoon like stare down mode.   It flashed thru my mind how do I get all 4 dogs away from this terribly interesting development. It was just a quick flash because I did not have time to contemplate or make a plan but I was torn between calling the dogs to me or getting Yanni out to help.   I opted for a little of both.   I called all the dogs to me in a very OH MY GOD GET OVER HERE CAUSE YOU ARE GOING TO DIE IF YOU DONT voice.  To my surprise all 4 dogs came to me and went right in the house with little to no argument.    In a breathless panicked voice I shouted to Yanni about the snake.  It took me some time to be coherent and get all the words out properly.  He jumped and went to get the snake wrangling tools.   By then it was pretty dark.    I went back outside to keep an eye on the snake but as I got close the rattling started back up and so I backed away.  I never saw him, I just heard him. This was one mad snake.   If the loudness of the rattle counts for anything, it was also a big one.

Yanni finally arrived with tools but the flashlight was not strong enough.   Funny thing we always have flashlights locked and loaded EXCEPT last night.   It took forever for my nervous hands to get batteries into a flashlight that actually worked.   By this time the snake was gone.  Yanni searched for it for a while but to no avail.   

I was no longer shaking but the images and feeling of doom were hard to shake.   I slept restless and it was still on my mind when I woke.   There are images from life that seer themselves into your brain and this is one of them.    If I were a painter I would be painting it now.   Three Staffords and a Bull Terrier of different ages and experience surrounding a snake rearing up in the lawn and the light very low is without a doubt a once in a lifetime sight to behold.    The expression on each dog was different but all were cautious except Scarlet who was mildly more interested in jumping up to get a fig out of an overhanging branch.  Looking back now, I think if the snake had struck it would have been game on.   The other three would have torn it up.  As it was they were waiting for it to move.  As long as the snake was still I had time.   I probably only had seconds because it was just a matter of time before one of them decided to make the snake move.  I really did not want to take a dog to emergency and pay $2,000 and deal with the after care. 

I have lived in rattlesnake country for over 30 years.  We have had numerous encounters.   Our experience here is real.  It does not come from book or videos.  I have had one dog bitten.   It was in the back of a hind leg so I figure she stepped on it.   There was one encounter between Madison and a big one at my old house that turned out well but this one is by far the most dramatic.   Being dark definitely added a new twist on it.     I love it here.   This is my home.   This is my crazy ass dog’s home too.    This is also the home of numerous creatures that carry all sorts of different degrees of difficulty.   I guess it is like a video game and we just reached a new level.