Pine Needle Hang-Up's

Dirt's favorite way to burn calories is running in front of the four-wheeler on the farm trails. He tries to average two miles a day. A mile at sunrise and a mile at sunset. He spends the middle of the day frisbee catchin’, practicing tricks, and researching his dissertation – trying to solve the Riemann Hypothesis… Whatever that means.

Mud, however, prefers to ride on the back of the four-wheeler. He’ll hop off occasionally and roll in some deer or armadillo excrement to freshen up but he ain’t into counting his steps.

“If your weight ain’t fluctuating, you ain’t living,” Mud tells me.

He’d kill me for telling y’all this, but Dirt can sometimes be a tad dramatic. One minute, he’s jumping through briars and wrangling rattlesnakes. The next minute, he’s at a dead stop on the trail with his tail between his legs. Of course, every time this happens, I jump off the four-wheeler, run up, and pat him down, only to find one tiny little pine needle barely hanging to his coat.

The first few times this happened, I brushed off the pine needle without realizing the pine needle was even the issue. But it didn’t take long for me to figure it out.

The little hang-ups get me all the time, too. Not only do I fall for Dirt's dramatic representation of a pine needle panic attack, but I find myself fixating on the pine needles in my own life. Why do we allow tiny daily hang-ups to run us entirely off-trail?

There’ve been times when I’ve felt so susceptible to“pine needle hang-ups” I’ve caught myself cursing the rain. “Oh, great, it’s raining. Now my day is ruined. I don’t know what to do!”

The funny thing about “pine needle hang-ups” is they’re always things we have no control over. Things like the weather, traffic jams or any car problem, our co-worker's attitude, travel delays, anything having to do with eating healthy, a spilled drink, torn pants, lost keys, a long wait at a restaurant, or God forbid the soft serve machine is down at McDonald's – that one gets me every time.

Often, we trick ourselves into thinking we have control of things. Assuming we could’ve planned or prepared for the basement to flood. So, we scold ourselves over what we should’ve done differently.

This can be dangerous. Try to avoid the endless trap of “I should have _________, and this would not have happened.” It’s certainly easier said than done, so be easy on yourself. It takes practice.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t learn from hang-ups; in fact, the opposite. Fixing hang-ups can be an excellent way to learn how to accomplish unique tasks and build confidence, like changing a tire or fixing the dishwasher. But just because we got a flat tire or the dishwasher leaked doesn’t mean we should avoid driving or washing the dishes.

The sooner we accept hang-ups as unavoidable, the sooner we begin to welcome them. They become an essential byproduct for measuring our progress.

Some of the best stories are a result of hang-ups. Especially the best dog stories (Mud). Dirt and I didn’t plan on getting another dog. Dirt wouldn’t even consider the idea, but Mud appeared one day.  (In full disclosure, I spent a week finding him a good home, and I did, but I couldn’t go through with it.) I tried to view him as a hang-up; don’t get me wrong, he was. He just happened to be the perfect hang-up at the perfect time. He was exactly what Dirt and I needed.

The universe always reminds us that our “pine needle hang-ups” are actually not hang-ups at all.

Dirt almost seems to be anticipating the pine needles. It might be a stretch, but I think it’s somewhat comforting. A way to check in and make sure I’m still going to take care of him if something happens. I think it’s worth mentioning that constantly looking for pine needles on our coats can be a form of hang-up.

They can disguise themselves as something we must overcome before we can start chasing a goal or dealing with an uncomfortable situation.  And it’s addicting to do this because any time you want to find a hang-up, you can. You’re probably thinking of one right now. It’s also a way for us to avoid dealing with things that involve facing the unknown or starting any creative endeavor. Steven Pressfield’s “The War of Art” is packed with tricks for overcoming resistance. I highly recommend it.

What if I’m overwhelmed with hang-ups?  A good rule of thumb we try to adhere to is when we catch ourselves looking or even anticipating a pine needle hang-up, it means we need to slow down. One trick we use is to catch the next sunrise or sunset. I’ll look up the time (sunset today is at 5:33pm for those interested), and no matter where we are or what we’re doing, we put down the phones and frisbees, walk outside, and watch the sunrise or set. If I’m in real need, I’ll catch them both.

Witnessing the first or last light of the day can reset our emotional balance. Reminding us how small we are. That whatever little annoying pine needle knocked us off our trail today holds no comparison to the universe. Not to get super philosophical, but the point is, it’s an easy reminder of how little we can control. Plus, it’s free tickets to the most beautiful show on earth every twelve hours. A gift to reset and reflect.

It’s the same reason we flock to the beach, plop down a chair, and stare into the empty ocean. The vastness of the open ocean naturally reminds us how little control we have over things.

Just like sunrises and sunsets, the tides of the ocean will rise and fall, and there’s not a damn thing we can do about it. It’s one of the reasons we all enjoy the natural beauty of things. It reminds every human on earth that although we can disagree on just about anything else, we all have to agree that no human on earth is powerful enough to dictate or control whether or not the earth continues to spin.

So, we ride the trails. Everyday. And although I know the likelihood of a pine needle latching to Dirt’s coat and Mud rolling in excrement is high, we tend to see them more as a welcoming story and less of a hang-up.

Here are some simple tricks I use to help get me out of a hang-up:

State The Facts.

Tell yourself the facts. Take a second and be extremely honest with yourself.

“It’s just a flat tire. I could not have planned for this. I’m not trying to be late to work. My life is not over. I’m simply overwhelmed because this is a stressful, unexpected thing, and that’s ok. I’m just going to be stressed out for a bit.”

Control The Outcome.

Do something you know you can control. Something that is not dependent on learning a new skill or task or someone else's attitude or validation. Do it for YOU.

Take the dog for a walk

Take yourself for a walk

Turn your phone off

Make a recipe you enjoy

Sit in silence for five minutes or five hours

Watch the sunrise or sunset

Say “no” to something you don’t really want to do and don’t feel like you have to give an explanation.

Draw, paint, or write something

Drink a full glass of water

Take a shower

Take a bath

play an instrument

Give the dog a bath

Play with your dog in the rain, mud, dirt, or snow

The Perfect Time

This one can be tricky because it’s scary. But sometimes you just gotta totally re-boot the system.

We’ve all heard it a million times, but it’s true. And it’s freeing as hell. So, in case you need to hear it one more time, here it is: There is never going to be the perfect time to start something new. Just freaking do it. Re-invent yourself over and over if you have too.

I went to nine different schools before I graduated high school. I went to college as a full-grown man, from ages 25-28. But who’s counting, and who cares? Started a business. Now I’m writing stories about my damn dogs. Again, who the hell cares? Just do it!

Stay Dirty!