The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Life!

September 4, 2010

Hang in there when things are tough

By Bev Davis

Editor’s Note: This column by the late Bev Davis originally was published on July 10, 2004. Davis passed away Aug. 1, 2010, of a sudden illness. The Register-Herald will continue to publish her previous columns in this space.



This week, I feel like I’ve been nibbled to death by ducks.

The tedium of keeping up with the house, yard, car, a job, church responsibilities and a thousand other small details have reduced me to my lowest common denominator of fatigue.

Property taxes are due. It’s time to fill out that goofy little form the assessor needs every year. It’s time for my annual car inspection, and the brakes need an adjustment. I bent a lawnmower blade beyond repair. I’ve had to run endless errands, and it’s time to pay bills.

Did I mention how much I hate all the paperwork that goes with that last little chore?

More than once this week, I’ve felt like giving up.

Tedium vita, the experts call it — the weariness of life.

I whined to a good friend, and he told me the following story. Whether it’s true or not, it helped give me a better perspective.

It seems a man cherished two setter pups he had raised. The bird dogs enjoyed a leisurely life in a large, shaded fenced-in back yard.

One morning, an ornery, vicious — but small — bulldog came shuffling and snorting down the alley. He dug his way under the fence and snarled at the pampered pooches.

The fight was on. Outnumbered and outsized, the little bull dog took quite a beating. He backed off, quickly exited the yard and ran away yelping in pain.

“Well, I guess we won’t have to worry any more about that little intruder,” the setters’ owner told his wife. “I had thought of putting our dogs in the basement so they wouldn’t hurt that little mutt, but maybe he needed a good lesson.”

The next day — at about the same time as the day before — the bulldog came back. Still bearing the wounds and scratches inflicted by the setters, he entered the yard and challenged them to another fight. They eagerly responded, and the bulldog took another beating, escaped and ran away.

The owner left on a business trip and returned two weeks later. When he went to the back yard to visit his prized setters, the man was greeted by a feisty little bulldog, who now strutted around the back yard like he owned the place.

“What happened to our setters,” he asked his wife.

“Well, it’s the darndest thing,” she said. “That little bull dog came back day after day and took on our dogs. No matter how badly they bit him and snarled at him, he kept coming back. One day, the setters heard him snorting down the street and ran for the basement. It’s been that way ever since. They’re scared to death of the bull dog.”

-----

There’s a lot to be said for pure tenacity. Just hanging in there when things are tough. Just getting up every day and doing the mundane, necessary things. Just muddling through the daily hassles that nibble away your zest and vitality.

I’ve decided I might as well buck up and brace myself. In all likelihood, there will be more ducks waddling into my life tomorrow. It’s up to me to decide who will wind up owning the pond.

Text Only
Life!