~ Stay the Course ~

The trail
that Lucky and I walk along every day - same route

has its own smoothed out direction

- if followed -

to stay clear of tiny little prickly thorns

that lay secretly camouflaged with the dirt, along the dark stained old wooden fence.

These tiny painful weapons impale deep into the

soft black pads of Lucky's paws
when he wanders
off the trail.

When we reach this habitual point on our journey, I always remind him to
"stay on the trail."

Sometimes he listens, and sometimes not.
I think to myself: "he must know and remember what happens when he wanders off."

Distraction
is his enemy nine times out of ten,
as the miniature yappity hyper dogs on the other side
run at high speed along the fence to greet him with their high-pitched barking.

I remind him again ...

"stay on the trail."

When he doesn't listen and obey
he freezes in place
the moment he walks up to the fence
as the pads of his feet become covered
with those annoying, sharp, painful - difficult to remove -
thorns,
leaving him unable to step any further.
Paralyzed.

He lifts up his front paws one at a time, then the back with my help ...
knowing that I can
remove them. 
It's not easy - as some become deeply burrowed. Difficult to reach. Challenging to pull out.
Sometimes my fingers get pricked in sharp pain myself, as a tiny blood drop surfaces.

Eventually
they are all removed.
And Lucky
the smart dog he is once again,
stays on the trail.

Stays the course.

Life's journey

isn't always simple.

We know the path to stay the course, but

often times

become distracted.  In a hurry.  Don't listen or obey. 

Fail to remember.

When deep in the rut of

thorns

impaling us at different angles, we become paralyzed, unable to progress any further.

Yet, there is always someone there to help pull them out.

Angel friends.  Family.  Him.

Sometimes it takes longer than other times -

but

the Hand that gives, gathers us once again.

To safety.

Direction.

The way home.

It is then up to us to

stay the course once again. 

We can simply

choose

to remember.  Obey. Trust.

And listen and follow that Voice gently reminding us:

"Stay on the trail."