Friday, April 11, 2014

Give a Dog a Good Name

When growing up in Tennessee I can recall three dogs we had.

Pete (a mixed breed hound)
Pluto (half Great Dane-half Boxer)
Tiger (German Shepherd)

We loved those dogs and think of them often at family reunions with great fondness.

In the grand scheme of things, however, those are so-so names as dogs go. 

My grand-kids – Adia and Eliot – just got a Labrador puppy.  They named her Quinn.  Now that is a great name.

I heard a parent once talking in front of her seven-year-old daughter and she was saying in effect, “Sarah is the clumsy one.”

Ouch.  I felt for that small girl.  She did not need to hear her mother refer to her in those terms.  She just named her daughter “clumsy”.

When I lived in Albuquerque, it was once said of me, “You’re an accident waiting to happen.”  That hurt.  And I still wince every time I recall that comment.

A month ago I was in a meeting with my publisher and three new members of our team.  Bryan was going around the table introducing each of us and as he came to me he said, “Michael is a writer’s writer.’

Oh my goodness.  He built me up in front of my peers.  He gave me a reputation to which to live up.  I've wanted to be a “writer” for over thirty years, and now that I've published three books I’m coming to accept that handle.  On this day Bryan put wind in my sails.  He saw me as a writer, and helped me embrace the reality of achieving my life’s dream.

Can you see the value of giving someone a destiny of value and worth to embrace?  Any fool can tell you what is wrong with you.  A builder of people will forecast your possibilities and remind you often of your own great potential.

Do you want better kids, a better spouse, and better employees?  Dale Carnegie reminds us of this:

Give the other person 
a fine reputation 
to live up to.
~How to Win Friends and Influence People
Dale Carnegie


Always remember this:





P Michael Biggs
Offering Hope
Encouragement Inspiration
One Word at a Time


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