Dog toys…

The title says dog toys, but this week is really about us. As you can see from the feature picture, Diesel has more than his share of toys. You may think, “That’s a lot of dog toys!” but you’re only seeing one dog bed in one room. There are more toys in the laundry room, the backyard, the garage, and in bags to be repaired (and he has at least seven dog beds).

When I met Amy, I had two labs, a yellow and a chocolate, named Mashed Potatoes and Gravy. The total number of dog beds I owned was zero and the only toys they had were tennis balls from a neighboring tennis club. Now, I’m not trying to say that Amy bought all those toys or that she spoils Diesel (and our previous dogs, Rye, Jameson and Major), but…

As Diesel acts like a dog and destroys many of the toys, I keep trying to throw them away, only to be stopped by Amy when she proclaims, “But that’s his favorite!” All I can say is that this boy had better make up his mind or we’re going to need a bigger house.

I do like to challenge Amy’s statement with little tests now and then, offering Diesel things like a stick, a weed, a rock, and what I believe to be his favorite, a cardboard box. While these can get a bit messy, they do provide quite a bit of entertainment for all of us and could explain why our UPS driver is his favorite person.

My questions to you are: Does he really need all of those toys? And do we really need all of ours? This question was posed to the members of G10 last Saturday morning and it really got me thinking. The actual question asked was, “If you could only save one material possession, what would it be?” As we went around the table, things were brought up like letters, photos, and family Bibles. I was last in line and couldn’t come up with a single material things to chose. Ultimately I said Amy was obviously the most important physical thing in my life and that if I had to make sure one thing came with me in a fire, I chose Diesel. Memories are stored in my heart, and letters and photos are just reminders for me. Most of the material things can be replaced and often upgraded. And though there are several Bibles in the house, we don’t have one we claim as the family Bible.

I can justify my response. If you refer back to my post from January 25th titled How I’m Doing, I describe how last summer we stood a good chance of losing much of what we had in a forest fire while on vacation in South Dakota. When the decision was made to vacate our cabin, Amy asked what we should take. My response was our dog Rye and some food, leaving behind everything we’d packed for a two-week vacation. This included the Harleys and trailer, an expensive telescope, a lot of clothes and so many other things that can be replaced. (To be honest, after telling Amy what to bring, I called our insurance agent to make sure everything was covered and then took pictures of all we were abandoning.) Amy being Amy, she overachieved as usual. By the time I got to the truck, the bed was packed with a lot of our stuff. But the moral of the story remains – we were willing to leave it all behind.

All this may sound a little hypocritical since I’ve written about my newest toy, the Mustang, which has yet to arrive. If you think that, I couldn’t agree with you more. In my defense, the Mustang is replacing the bikes and is nothing more than a tool to be used to spend even more time with the one I love, doing things that will make even more great memories. In the realm of what matters most, it wouldn’t make the top 100. If it took one minute away from time with Amy, the cost would be too high. As the band Kansas said, “And all your money won’t another minute buy.”

Looking back on my life, I spent too much time chasing the BBD (bigger, better deal). I bought expensive clothes, wore expensive watches, ate at the best restaurants, and didn’t deny myself anything. During that time, I couldn’t tell you what made me happy. No matter what I had, I always wanted something better. I may have even dated a few Material Girls.

(That last paragraph may have been just a ploy to work in Madonna.)

To be serious, the last few years have shown me the rewards of giving, and that less really can be more. Not a penny needs to be spent for me to be happy. I’m more than content with what we have now and could easily live with a lot less. It’s been said that: “He who dies with the most toys wins.” Well…

If this is how we’re keeping score, I’ll gladly take the “L.” I want to go out with my pockets empty, with a heart full of joy, knowing I stopped wasting my life on things I can’t take with me. Hoping that I improved at least a couple of other lives along the way. No matter what, I want to stop taking for granted all the blessings I have surrounding me. Thank you, Larry Fleet.

To bring this week’s rambling to a close, I’d like to leave you with a scripture that gets right to the point:

Thanks, as always, for keeping up with me.

Have a great weekend.

God bless.

Coach