Which Dog Do You Feed At Work?

Happy Dog
Photo by Marliese Streefland on Unsplash

“Inside of me there are two dogs. One is mean and evil and the other is good and they fight each other all the time. When asked which one wins I answer, the one I feed the most.” ~ Sitting Bull

I’m sure I’ve heard this quote before, but the moment it really stands out to me is from the television show, Longmire. One of the best characters in the show is the retired Sheriff Lucian Connally. He was a fan of literature and poetry. He always had an interesting perspective on life.

As things were reaching a climax on the show, Lucian told the current Sheriff Longmire this quote. It was in reference to a couple of the other characters on the show and how they fed their mean dog most. It also seemed to be a little hint to Walt Longmire that he better make sure to keep feeding the good dog because we all have that mean one in there.

What Do You Do At Work?

Work can sometimes be a miserable place. Sometimes it’s out of our control. Our boss or coworker can be mean or negative or just bad at their job. And that can affect us. When I think about this I often think about Joe Thomas, former tackle for the Cleveland Browns. He was one of the best throughout his career, but never tasted any kind of winning because of the organization, coaches and other players.

But Joe seemed to be pretty upbeat most of the time. And he always seemed focus on doing the best job he could. He focused on what he could control.

He fed the good dog inside of him.

There are also plenty of people that are in relatively good situations, but for whatever reason they find ways to feed the mean dog. They focus on the negative. They actually seek it out. It doesn’t matter how successful or how good the situation is, they will find the negative.

Now, it’s certainly true that negative things happen. But if you seek them out you’ll always be able to find them and let them affect you. And if you’re looking for a way out you’re probably not going to find it by getting a new job or anything like that.

You’ll only get out of it if you stop feeding the mean dog.

Final Thought

If you’re struggling at work at least consider the possibility that you’re focusing only on the negative. Take the opposite perspective. Maybe try to take the perspective of someone else coming to look at a job there for the first time. They probably focus on the positives. At least to a point.

It could be the case that your job is terrible. Not just to you, but to those that also look at your situation. But it can be worthwhile to see it from the side of your good dog. The one that might need a little more feeding.

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