Written by a lady Sheepdog , Sheepdog thought for the day: When you read or hear the metaphorical word sheepdog, only a few people know the true reference behind the meaning. A sheepdog is societys protector. They protect their sheep, commonly referred to as the majority of everyday people who are kind and good and do not deal with evil and danger in their normal lives. The Sheepdog protects their sheep from the Wolves, the evil that lurks who commit the violent attack on the sheep. (ref. Dave Grossman). Sheepdogs are our military personnel and law enforcement. However, adapting or practicing the sheepdog mentality does not need one to be in either entity. It can simply be a state of mind one lives in because they were born to be protectors. They do not have to be muscular, tall, strong, fierce men to play that role. One could be as small as four foot nothing, with the strength of a mouse. It is truly a state of mind that determines the role of a protector. In my life, I began assuming that role at a very young age. My childhood was surrounded by the majority of boys my age and being a female, I had to learn to put my big girl panties on and not let my feminism stand in the way of doing anything and everything my childhood friends could do. It was and has always been the way of life for me. Its a state of mind where fear indeed exists, but determination and desire to drive on, drowns that fear and becomes the smallest emotion in play. Yes, I am a woman; yes, I am only 5ft-2 inches tall; no, I cannot lift the same amount of weight over my head as a professional bodybuilder can lift. What I can do is inconceivable when forced to protect someone else from harm. I dont quit, I never give up, I never accept defeat. I have trained with the best of the best. I have served years on a SWAT team, I have trained Special Operations Teams throughout the US. By first developing the mental skills of how to stay in the fight, how to not be a victim, and how to not let others be victimized is when you seek the fine skills to counteract your weaknesses of any physical barriers. You become proficient in a martial art, in psychological diversion, in a defensive and offensive specialization. You learn how to fire a weapon so comfortably that its second nature to brushing your hair. You learn how to take an object and turn it into a weapon should the need ever arise for you to use it. You become ALWAYS aware of your environment and how to survive in it. You have a Plan A all the way through to a Plan Z. All of these characteristics are simply that, characteristics. Skills are learned and can become fine toothed skills when executed over and over. They are not things meant for a certain gender nor should they ever be. I am a woman, a mother, and yes I do get a pedicure every so often. But let me remind you, none of those qualities deter me from being a sheepdog and should not deter any woman or man from being one as well.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 17:06:38 +0000