Lessons Learned From The Naked Neighbor

On a Saturday night at home while relaxing with friends, things turned interesting quickly. A dog showed up at the house. In an attempt to find the rightful owner and return the dog, we knocked on the door of the rightful owner and a naked man opened the door. This was the start of an interesting week.

After the man got dressed he came down, supposedly to claim his dog. However, he sat down, made himself at home, and "gifted" us the dog. This is where attitude, perspective, integrity, and wisdom come in. It takes all of these to walk through the journey that began in this moment. After a brief visit, he left, and we were now the proud owners of this dog. It takes wisdom to know that our lifestyle is mismatched for the needs of this dog; the owner that "gifted" us the dog was mismatched for him as well.

Three attempts to return the dog to his naked owner failed. (I think he was avoiding us.) But, because our lifestyle wasn't conducive to giving this poor dog the attention he needed, he wrecked havoc on the neighbors. They got involved. After we shared the story, they gained a new perspective and wisely stepped in to help us find a solution.

One week later it was decided (by neighborhood consensus, I believe) that the dog would be picked up from us by the naked neighbor. He would then return it to the prior owner who was more equipped to care for it. An hour after the dog was picked up, he escaped and returned to us.

When faced with unexpected challenges in life, it helps to see everyone's perspective. The dog's perspective was he obviously was unhappy with his current home and was extremely happy at ours. Our perspective, however, is we didn't have time to devote to him and give him a proper home. The "naked neighbor's" perspective was that although he was a lonely guy, he didn't have the desire to devote his time to a dog. The obvious lack of affection between he and the dog showed he didn't desire a 4-legged companion to fill his void.

We have to look at one another's perspective to solve a problem with wisdom and integrity. That's the sign of a leader. Although a naked neighbor typically has little to do with leadership, it did bring a neighborhood together to understand one another and work as a team to solve a problem. And, give everyone moments of laughter and a good attitude. So, as with everything in life, we can learn from each experience we are given.