That’ll Do, Friends. That’ll Do

Sometimes in life, parameters are for our good. And although we can seek for freedom and total flexibility, having some boundaries can actually be good for us because they can show us what is possible, enjoy healthier relationships, and ways of avoiding pitfalls that could be much more dangerous than sitting under a Woodsy Owl sign. Just as the sheep dogs protect and keep the sheep safe by guiding them along the path that they should go, listening to mentors, wise friends, and family can often set a safer path for us to navigate through life.

Each year on Labor Day for nearly the last two decades my family and I have visited an event where sheep dogs try to herd sheep around an obstacle course of sorts. The dogs are absolutely amazing! When I say that the dogs drive the sheep through an obstacle course I am definitely not talking about an air-conditioned arena. The area where the dogs have to herd the sheep are up steep hillsides about a quarter mile, then downhill a quarter mile then back up halfway. They cut across the field through a couple of barriers. The sheep are then separated based on those that have collars and those that don’t and if the handler – – The human owner of the dog – – has enough time and skill he attempts to drive the sheep into a small pen. Each of those elements help the human and dog team accumulate points. The goal is to drive the sheep as calmly and as straight as possible across an invisible line that angles across the field.

The fact that a single dog can drive 16 sheep 90+ degree weather running several miles throughout the course absolutely boggles my mind. I still remember the times when the dogs have been able to pen the sheep at the end, After working so hard and just being totally exhausted. It’s truly thrilling to see.

Of course this contest is a game of sorts. But the skills that the dogs exhibit are vital to their normal working lives on farms where they actually herd animals for their handler‘s livelihoods. The dogs keep sheep and cows together and drive them according to the needs of the handlers. The dogs also provide protection and through following the directions of the handler, the dogs also are aware of dangers and challenges that the sheep or cows are totally oblivious to.

Of course, to the sheep or cows, the dogs pose simply a threat. Some of the sheep seem to not be quite as afraid as much as annoyed by the dogs but in either case, the dogs are seen as an obstacle to the sheep‘s true liberty and freedom to wander the field and eat as they go along as they please.

I think there’s a lesson there for us humans as well. Freedom to choose our own destiny‘s and paths in life is a wonderful thing that we should all enjoy. However, as humans, sometimes it’s actually healthy and helpful to set boundaries and follow the guidance of people we trust rather than doing only what we want to do whenever we want to do it.

I was a very independent kid growing up, and I’m sure I drove my parents absolutely crazy because I had the tendency to wander off to explore whether we were camping, hiking, at a mall, or really wherever we might be. I still remember the sort of thought processes that went through my head at that age. I was quite certain that I knew what I was doing and where I was going and why I was doing it. So it never really made that much sense to me that I should stick with my family or that I needed boundaries for my exploration because I was always certain that I could find my way back.

However, I recall one hike in particular where that independence got me into some trouble. We had taken a fairly extensive hike up a canyon in the Salt Lake area and on the way back I was tired of hiking at the rate that the rest of my family was taking so without clear permission, I started running down the trail thinking that there would only be one trail and I would just meet my family at the trailhead. Little did I know that they’re actually were multiple forks in the trail and I happened to take the wrong one. I got down to the bottom of the mountain but instead of exiting to a trailhead I exited directly to the road. I think I was maybe five or six years old at the time and I honestly didn’t know what to do next. I suppose I could have just walked in either direction for a while and eventually I would run into the trailhead because I was certain that the trailhead was off of this road but at the time I really wasn’t certain whether it was the best option to do that trial and error method of finding my way back or just staying put. Thankfully I recalled seeing a Woodsy Owl sign near the trailhead on the drive up to the hike and where I came out off the trail I was right underneath that sign. So that’s where I sat and waited.

As you can imagine, my mom was rather alarmed when she got back to the trailhead and I wasn’t there. So much so in fact that she called search and rescue and I heard that a helicopter was even activated in the search. I was unaware of any of that activity going on and I felt quite safe and secure where I was though I clearly wasn’t in a position to find my own way either. Eventually a member of the search and rescue found me and I found out that I was a few hundred yards away from where I should’ve been and I reconnected with my family just fine. So this story has a very happy ending for me at least although my mom certainly dealt with a very stressful hour or two.

Sometimes in life parameters are for our good. And although we can seek for freedom and total flexibility, having some boundaries can actually be good for us because they can show us what is possible, help us enjoy healthier relationships, and find ways of avoiding pitfalls that could be much more dangerous than sitting under a Woodsy Owl sign. Just as the sheep dogs protect and keep the sheep safe by guiding them along the path that they should go, listening to mentors, wise friends, and family can often set a safer path for us to navigate through life.