what I learned from enzo

One thing I really enjoy about traveling is my opportunity to read a good book and catch up on some sudoku (preferably while on a plane and not while driving). I know I'm cool. You don't have to tell me.

So I decided to start a new book during my winter tour 2011 that I have been wanting to read for some time now. It is The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, and it, my dear friends, is amazing. I finished the book up last night. The narrator of the book is a dog that goes by the name of Enzo, and let me just tell you I never knew I could learn so much from a fictional dog.

What exactly did I learn?

1) Live life to the fullest.

"To live every day as if it had been stolen from death, that is how I would like to live. To feel the joy of life, as Eve" (not of Adam and Eve) "felt the joy of life. To separate oneself from the burden, the angst, the anguish we all encounter every day. To say I am alive, I am wonderful, I am. I am. That is something to aspire to. When I am a person, that is how I will live my life."

2) Everyone has their flaws, but it's how you overcome those flaws that's the real test. That's what makes you stronger.

"The true hero is flawed. The true test of a champion is not whether he can triumph, but whether he can overcome obstacles - preferably of hi own making - in order to triumph."

3) Sometimes it's okay to escape (or "go wilding").

"I am not a dog who runs away from things. I had never run away from Denny before that moment, and I have never run away since. But in that moment, I had to run.

There was something about it. I don't know. The setting of the dog park, perched on the eastern bank of Mercer Island like that, so ready. The split rail fence, not a containment fence in any way. The entire scene begs for a dog to run, to flee from his captivity, to lash out against the establishment. And so I ran.

Off to the south, I burst off down the short path throughout the gap in the split rail and out onto the big field, then I broke west. Over the asphalt path and down the other side to the amphitheater I found what I was looking for, untamed wilderness. I needed to go wilding. I was upset, sad, angry - something! I needed to do something! I needed to feel myself, understand myself and this horrible world we are all trapped in, where bugs and tumors and viruses worm their way into our brains and lay their putrid eggs that hatch and eat us alive from the inside out. I needed to do my part to crush it, stamp out what was attacking me, my way of life. So I ran."

4) We all have a purpose here on earth. When it's our time to go then it's our time to go. We must trust God with that.

"He died that day because his body had served its purpose. His soul had done what it came to do, learned what it came to learn, and then was free to leave. And I knew, as Denny sped me toward the doctor who would fix me, that if I had already accomplished what I set out to accomplish here on earth, if I had already learned what I was meant to learn, I would have left the curb one second later than I had, and I would have been killed instantly by that car.

But I was not killed. Because I was not finished, I still had work to do."

5) Give it your best because anything less is cheating yourself (Okay. This one is not from the dog's mouth, but I couldn't leave it out).

" 'There is no dishonor in losing the race,' Don said. 'There is only dishonor in not racing because you are afraid to lose.' "

Seriously guys, this book is awesome. Enzo not only gives you some serious thoughts to digest but he's also quite humorous at times. I highly recommend this book.