Southern-Fried Wisdom 1
Lay Down with Dogs, You Get Fleas
I grew up in Texas. Strange thing about Texas is that sometimes people want to say something without saying something. I grew up having to decipher different sayings my whole life. These sayings shaped my view of the world but also challenged me to “turn a phrase” which is somewhat useful in my line of work. There were phrases my relatives and some of the older people we went to church with would throw our way from time to time. I thought it would be cool to share a couple with you and more than likely they are some sayings you’ve heard before but it never hurts to be reminded.
“If you lie down with dogs; you’ll get up with fleas.” My mom always asked about our friends. She wanted to know about them and get to know them before we could be around them. I didn’t understand and thought it was a pain with all the questions, but my mom was trying to make sure we didn’t get fleas. It is something we understand for our kids and friends, but we sometimes just don’t believe the fleas will hop on us. We fool ourselves into believing that it doesn’t matter who we hang around. They can’t change us.
Proverbs 13:20 says “Spend time with the wise and you will become wise, but the friends of fools will suffer.” The Bible taught us and life has shown us that we will become who we hang around. So the question truly does become: “Who are you hanging out with?” Our friends either lift us up or pull us down. It is hard to look around and think, “Is that really who I want to become?” Especially when the people you question might actually be your family. It truly is tough to be strong with ourselves. After all, we chose those friends because they are fun to be around. But maybe they just aren’t the best of influences on us or our families. Are you ready to be better? Then maybe you need to hang out with some different people so they can lift you to another place.
As a kid we had a few dogs. Just one at a time, but one of them had fleas. I remember because he was good sized and it took a lot to bathe him. He fought that bath. I think my brother and I got wetter than he did. But to get rid of those fleas we bathed him and then put flea powder on him, and then a flea collar to make sure. I just know that to get rid of fleas takes a lot of work. So maybe it would be better if we didn’t lay down with a dog at all. Then again, maybe we just enjoy the sweating and scratching that fleas bring.