I
was watching one of those wildly-colorful and all-too-busy truck commercials
today, and one of the things the narrator said stuck with me. He said, “If you’re not the lead dog, then
the scenery never changes.” I know that
they were trying to imply that this particular truck company was leading the
charge on innovation and technological advances, but the turn of phrase was
interesting. I immediately thought of the
literal meaning, and a dogsled team came to mind. All those dogs in the back only looking at
the behind of the dog in front of them.
And the only one that can see things change is the one in front.
The
imagery made me think about so many applications. About how we often find ourselves stuck in a
routine where the scenery is always the same.
About how we rush through life only focused on chasing the person who
has more than us or the fictitious person that we think we need to be. About how we all think we need to be lead
dog, because that is the only place where it’s good.
But
my question is why can’t the dogs in the back look around? Why can they only look forward? Why can’t they take time to enjoy the passing
scenery too? Why can’t we take time to
enjoy things as they happen instead of rushing through them? Why can’t we be content where we are? Because I bet you that the people in front of
us are no happier than we are. They are
still looking ahead to the next conquest, the next person. So, why would we want to be them? Why do we assume that their life is so much
better off?
