I’m concerned that my daughter won’t do well in life. Why? Tenacity.
Tenacity is what separates the successful from the naturally gifted.
Having a high IQ should be a good thing. It can be, but it can make a person (potentially) very lazy. For instance, it can make you try less. So, why work hard at school (to learn new things), if the grade come easy?
A lack of struggle will hold actually us back from achieving success in the future.
Smarts can mean that when you run into a problem you quits because you hate the feeling of struggling.
The only way to get into a practice of being tenacious is to make sure that some things are fought for.
We will want to take short cuts. We want to skip the work. But, we can’t.
It’s about dogged tenacity!
That’s what I’ve been striving for with doggedly promoting my book about dogs and how having them makes a big difference in ways I never realized. In the last few weeks it’s been a lot of work! It’s hard but the success is worth the pain and toil. The success isn’t the money–it’s in the process of the work itself. The joy is in knowing you are doing something you love even though it’s tough.
I’m sometimes surprised at how much has been accomplished. The project has gone from zero to hero with hundreds of people excited about the release, on August 19th (2013). It’s exciting.
So, back to the recipe:
The recipe for tenacity…for you and me, is to try things that are too hard for us. Try what is uncomfortable until it doesn’t bother you any more.
And other things too:
1. Meet fear head-on.
2. Combat, “I might fail.” with “I’ll learn something no matter what.”
3. Persist and when you feel like letting up…rest for just a tiny bit and then persist again.
I’m inspired by the dogged tenacity of a dog on the fetch. The dog pictures of Underwater Dogs capture it well.
So, on that note, please join a whole pack of us as we get ready to doggedly put the puppy into the splashy, so to speak. Let’s do this!
Photo is the an incredible artist Seth Casteel, photographer of the best-selling and amazing book “Underwater Dogs”.
“What a refreshing read! And by refreshing, I mean not only crisp prose and photos that are–wait for it–so doggone cute! but true living water for the spirit. This collection of small essays by two different stylists not only celebrates the wonderful relationships of humans and their best friends, it examines the spiritual significance of ownership, training, domestication, and companionship. Doug Jackson and Lisa Colon Delay complement one another: one will write about a specific experience (the true “Labrador” nature of her pup) and then the other will challenge the reader with questions about animal souls, using sources as varied as C.S. Lewis and St. Francis. Hard for the Christian reader to finish this treat of a book without wanting to do two things–share the book and volunteer at the local animal shelter. Thanks, Doug and Lisa, on behalf of the sweet souls that cannot speak for themselves!”
From Michelle Moore Mitchell:
“Just finished reading the review draft. I want more! … Not sentimental — but lots of tears. I’m going to read it again, starting tomorrow. This time, a chapter a day, so I can live with, experience, think about, and feel what is there more fully….”
From Clark Roush:
“Only on page 30, and I can already confidently declare you will want to read “Dog in the Gap.'”
Would you be willing to write a review? Hooray! Use the contact form here.
ONLY 7 days until you can get the much anticipated book I’ve written with esteemed professor and long-time pastor Doug Jackson.
WHAT’S SO COOL
I’m really proud of the content and layout of this book. For instance:
• Nearly all of the 88 pages include a captivating photo which really adds a lot to the experience.
• Anyone who’s had a dog they loved will “get this” book (both editions). It’s powerful. It put into words and takeaways those deep bonds and lessons we experience uniquely when we have a furry companion.
BONUS EDITION!
• The BONUS EDITION (will also be released on the same date) has well over 100 pages of extras, secret links to exclusive videos for this group, and plenty of extra photos and humor. (It’s the hardcore doggie fans Edition.) See below for the Charity component.
CLARITY It’s set up to be easy to read. It’s no dense tome. There are terrific stories and there’s plenty of material and insights even a non pet owner can enjoy.
CHARITY
• We are donating portions of the money you pay for the book (which is an affordable $2.99. You’d shell out $3 to help dogs, right?) to two local non-profits:
For me, it’s a low-cost spay and neutering clinic in Allentown, PA (named alliteratively: “No Nonsense Neutering“). They offer low cost services in Reading, Allentown and Quakertown, PA as a humane and preventative alternative to regulating overpopulation through euthanasia. (Unlike PETA who funds mass euthanasia programssecretly. “Fur is murder!” they say, but they have a mass extermination system in place for kittens, rabbits, and puppies. VIEWER CAUTION ADVISED: Previous link has some grisly and disturbing photos.)
VIDEO: Doug was kind enough to sit down and answer a few interesting questions on video for me. Some I’ve saved for the Bonus Edition for you super fans! You’ll have to hold tight patiently for a few more days!
In this video (just 80 seconds long) Doug shares what he thinks will most surprise readers about the book.
I hope you’re as excited as we are!
Want a sample to read for free?
Just sign up just below! We’ll be sending it out soon.
This is the news I’ve been waiting to share with you!
If you ever loved a dog, owned a dog, or just wondered why they are so beloved, we have something we (Doug Jackson and me) created with a lot of love.
And it’s not just the book you see below coming soon, there will be a lot of extras coming too. Stayed tuned in August for more details and please join us as we get going at Facebook.
Portions of the proceeds will benefit 2 non profits we’ve selected that care for canine companions.
So here’s some details:
1. If you want a pre-launch Review Copy, let me know.
(There will be a limited number released, with special consideration for those who have a tribe and want to help us get the word out.)
2. If you’d like a sample, cool! Sign up for the free stuff in the popup window, or by going to the Free Stuff page to register.
I’ll spare you a corresponding photo, but Luna, our chocolate lab, tried to bring a dead rabbit into the house.
Not long ago, just after Luna began adjusting to us and as her new family, I took her outside for her final bathroom break of the day.
She sniffed around as usual and then slowly blended into the inky night. Chocolate labs are pretty tough to spot at night, unless you catch the light reflected off the backs of their eyes. I waited. Then sensing that she might smell something and head off after it, I called to her. Nothing. Again I called and a few more times.
I heard the jingle of her collar in the weeds and then she pranced back with something furry in her mouth.
Not quite the hunter, Luna found an already killed and gutted rabbit and brought the carcass back. She wanted to bring it inside and share it. I screamed. And she seemed stunned.
“Put it down. Put it down. No, girl. Get inside.” I said.
She dropped it–mortified. Clearly she was a mix of mystified and disappointed you could just tell by her face. She sneaked inside and kept checking back to see what could be the matter. For days after we hosed down the back area where she dropped her present she would sniff and make some attempts to roll in the smell.
Gone were her chances to provide for the pack, at least in that way.
I wonder if we’re like that too sometimes. Trying to provide or contribute, thinking we’re doing a great job, and really God knows that our contributions are more like rotten carrion. It’s incomprehensible sometimes to us why somethings we’re doing won’t work, but for reasons that escape us God wants us to put down our treasured booty and come back inside.
I don’t think God wants us to give up our “doggie-like ways” or our “doggie-ness”, after all God made us people entirely on purpose. He knows we tend to get into trouble sometimes. Nevertheless some habits are important and healthy to break. And just like I started attaching Luna to her chain during outdoor pit stops maybe sometimes we have to get reigned in too.
We took our chocolate Lab, Luna, to a friend’s cabin on Sunday. The cabin is situated right near a creek and Luna’s inbred water skills took over. Nature trumped.
Short background on the breed: Labrador Retrievers are among the most popular registered breeds in the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK and came about from the St John water dog breed in the 16th century. They became the breed they are today in Newfoundland in the 18th century, and chocolate labs are a 20th century variety. Their coats are waterproof.
Luna’s excitement shifted to overdrive. She wanted to sniff everything and had an anteater quality for a bit as she trolled the grounds.
Then the water fowl got her attention. She was transfixed. She never barked, only made little communications in staccato canine mummers. Muscle taunt, ears pricked.
She was living the dream.
Luna the Diving Dog?
Soon she went up to a ledge near the creek and jumped right in without hesitation. No fear. Just joy. Instinct. Love of the whole thing.
The water was probably about 40° F so she didn’t stay in long. I’ve never seen her happier.
Something about that act of abandon pricked me and gave me a new connection to her. She was herself. She wasn’t what her previous owners said she was (a lab that strangely disliked water). She wasn’t some other kind of animal. She was in her God-given glory. That is beauty, I must tell you.
Connection
Something switched this weekend with Luna. She began looking into our eyes to see what was expected. She’s moved beyond being anxious at her new surroundings and understanding how our family (pack) operates to now being a part of it instead. It seems like the love is mutual now, for all of us, that the growing pains of learning a new family grouping have subsided. Trust in a deeper way has started.
Trust
It makes me wonder about how trust works in our own human hearts. Mutuality is vital to it. It’s the difference between emotionally “hedging your bet” and being a willing giver buoyed by the security that comes with a firmer social bond. At what point do we just forget about our hang ups and be who we are born to be? When do we dive?
