Live Like a Guide Dog: A Plan for Turning Fear Into CourageSample

Day 4: Perseverance

Reflection:

Sometimes courage means simply not giving up when times get tough or you feel afraid. Working with guide dogs means you get to have wonderful companions who are by your side 24-7. It’s a wonderful experience. But the work of guiding is strenuous, and guide dogs typically have to retire after eight to ten years. And dogs don’t live as long as humans. I’ve had to say goodbye to more dogs than I would like.

I remember a frightening experience with one of my dogs, one that almost forced his early retirement.

After yet another unproductive cold call while working at the company I founded in 1985, I hung up the phone and sighed. Tension and worry knotted up the muscles in my neck.

“Klonny, come,” I said. I needed a little canine encouragement.

Klondike walked over and I stroked his silky ears. “It’s been a long day, buddy. Just a couple more calls and then we can head home.”

Klondike licked my hand. Then, suddenly, he dropped to the floor. I reached down and could feel his body convulsing.

“Klondike!” I knelt beside him as he jerked and quivered for more than a minute. Panic surged through my body. Eventually, my dog lay still.

Klondike recovered from that seizure but continued to have them. We thought we might have to retire him even though he was only two years old. But we continued to seek a solution, and finally found the right medications to keep him seizure-free. He guided capably for another seven years after that.

Perseverance is really about problem solving—not giving up in the face of problems but finding solutions. The very act of solving the problem can help us become more confident and courageous.

God, when life throws challenges at me, help me to persevere and keep moving forward in faith.