A week ago, I went to Nashville to see some of my friends and family. After getting an average cup of hot chocolate, my brother and I sat outside the White Bison in the middle of 12 South. If you are familiar with Nashville, then you have seen the massive statue of a white bison outside of the Twice Daily/White Bison on 12 South.
Austin and I people watched for a few hours as tourists posed in front of the I Believe in Nashville mural and others fell prey to the temptation of Christie’s Cookies. Suddenly, we heard barking from behind us and turned to see a man walking two beautiful huskies. We assumed the huskies were barking at another dog on the other side of the porch, but they barked again with no other dogs in sight when they walked by again 15 minutes later.
The dogs barked at the statue of a white bison. For whatever reason, the concrete, immobile bison posed a great threat to the huskies on their walk.
My dad uses a common phrase, “barking up the wrong tree.” This phrase is derived from a story of a dog chasing a cat up a tree. The dog mistakenly barks at the wrong tree because the cat escaped the tree by jumping to the branches of another tree. The dog doesn’t realize the change and barks at the same tree while the cat rests in another.
The huskies barked up the wrong tree. They wasted their energy on something that wasn’t there!
It is comical to laugh at a dog for barking at a statue, but we do the equivalent in our everyday lives. We give time and energy to unimportant people or tasks. In today’s world so many people getting frustrated and worked up on social media, but for what benefit? Trolls exist just to tick you off and get a reaction.
Don’t let something fake or unimportant take your energy. NF has a verse that says, “…don’t take opinions from people that won’t listen to yours.” Don’t let the opinions or critiques of others bother you unless they come from someone close enough to also accept your advice.
This week, save your energy for the parts of your day that are valuable and worthwhile. Give your energy to the people and things that give you life.
I appreciate you.
-JP