Current Inspiration

Protect

Today is Wednesday, which means it’s time for the Inspirational word of the day.

Protect: (verb) to defend or guard against attack; to cover.

A couple of weeks ago, I had my son and his friend go with me on my walk around the lake. They both rode their bikes and stayed fairly close as I walked with Tootsie, her leash attached to my back belt loop.

As we were getting ready to walk past this one house that sits down a hill from the road we were on, I saw a lady holding a dog on a leash. I heard her yelling, apparently at another dog, so I told the kids to stay back behind me. I could hear the ladies voice get louder and higher pitched, so I pulled Tootsie behind me and (okay, I know this next part sounds weird, but just play along with me) psychically surrounded all of us with this “egg of protective energy“. As the dog, a full grown boxer, got to the top of the hill, I stood tall, pointed my finger at it and yelled “Get back in your yard, GO HOME!” The dog stopped dead in it’s tracks, turned right around and headed back down the hill. Whew!!

The boys were very impressed and asked how I knew how to do that. I told them that I’ve had dogs attack us before, and sometimes they don’t stop. Even though I really didn’t want to, I’ve been forced to defend myself and Tootsie, usually by kicking the dog in the stomach. (One time a teenaged boy actually yelled at me for kicking his dog, I told him that I would protect myself and that he should keep his dog on a leash, dammit!) By standing my ground and giving a stern verbal warning, THIS TIME I was able to convince the dog that attacking us wouldn’t be worth it’s effort.

Then I asked the boys if they knew what “grace” meant. They both shook their heads, so I explained that a grace note in music is actually not a sound at all. It’s the pause between notes that helps give the rhythm to the song. Grace is the good luck of escaping injury. Grace comes with being aware of your environment, and your willingness to defend your place in it.

“Just because you must defend yourself, doesn’t mean you have to be an asshole about it.”

The boys listened for a couple of minutes before riding ahead.

I said a quiet prayer, thanking God for the opportunity to share this lesson with them.

And now with you, my friendly blog reader.

What do you think? Have you had to defend yourself lately?

I’d love to read your thoughts in the comments!

Have a great week and I’ll be back on Monday with the Inspirational song of the week.

xoxo Pam