When Denver the Dog Ran Away from the Good Life (50th Episode Special!)

When Denver the Dog Ran Away from the Good Life (50th Episode Special!) – SuperPumped Life Episode 008

Ben Walters: [00:00:00] Welcome to the 50th SuperPumped podcast. I have a special guest today for all of you. I am super excited to be joined by my friend Denver, Colorado. Denver is not going to be doing a ton of talking today, but nonetheless, there's a ton we can learn from Denver. Part of why I wanted to talk to Denver today was because two weeks ago, Denver decided he was going to find a new family, run away from home and set off to find his SuperPumped Life. And so he squirted out the door and managed to be on the lamb for about a half day 'till a neighbor found him, corralled him, took him to a vet hospital. They scanned his chip and they said he belongs with us. And so then when I got to the animal hospital, he looked super sad. Dogs normally he look thrilled to be reunited with their owners. This guy looked very unhappy. He was not happy about our reunion at all because in [00:01:00] Denver's mind, he always wants that better life, and I applaud him for that. I think all of us want our SuperPumped Life.

Ben Walters: Now, to give you a little context, both in the far history and as well as the close history, Denver grew up a abused street dog, and so he's got a limp on his back, right leg that he will carry the rest of his life, he was starved, he was actually thrown into an abandoned house and left there to bark so that people wouldn't come and try to steal the copper and that kind of thing. And so he only got fed pretty rarely and he learned to be a survivor. I think the shelter said he was adopted out with a sister. She ended up dying in the home. He managed to escape. This guy is Houdini 101. And so he escaped from that bad situation and then they actually put him back in there and then he escaped again.

Ben Walters: And he came into our lives back in 2014. He was out at our 30 [00:02:00] foot roll off dumpster here at our house when we were renovating it, and he was going through the contractor trash. So he was eating, you know, half eaten cheeseburgers and a few cold fries, and that's just the kind of survivor he is. And so he really does have that natural instinct to survive. That, kind of, "I can do better for myself" and "I'll get there." And so that is really admirable about Denver.

Ben Walters: But what's a little bit hurtful about Denver is Denver is living a SuperPumped Life. If we measure things by, he lives in the biggest house in the neighborhood. He has about 10,000 square feet inside to run around in. So that's really cool for a dog. And beyond that, he has a half acre yard that he can run around in, play, he likes to chase squirrels, and that kind of thing. So he has that going for him. And then because of my work, he gets a lot of leftover food that's gonna be thrown out. So tons of [00:03:00] chickens, and steak, and salmon, halibut, all kinds of stuff that would, most dogs would kill for. And you know what the funny thing is? He also has six people in the family who love on him nonstop. So he has people who brush him, people who cuddle with him, people who take him for his daily walk.

Ben Walters: So, by all accounts, you would think Denver has it made right? And yet, as soon as you leave the door just slightly ajar or the gates slightly open, like I did two weeks ago, this guy bolts, he is ready for his better SuperPumped Life.

Ben Walters: And so what do I take away from Denver? First off, I take away that no matter how bad your situation is or how old you are, you can still get that SuperPumped Life, you can still have that which eludes you. And so Denver is living proof [00:04:00] that even if things started out poorly for you, you can land on your feet. If you just keep striving and just because you think you've made it doesn't mean you can't keep striving for more, right? There's always something more. This guy, there might be an even better steak out there, or family who takes him for four walks a day instead of one or two like we do, or maybe there's a hundred thousand square foot house that he could be the primary resident of. And so that's the first thing.

Ben Walters: The second thing is trauma travels. What I mean by that is this guy was scarred early in life and there was a recent study I read, it was about 4,500 abused dogs. And I know we don't wanna talk about that. But this guy, he still carries the trauma of his early childhood. And I don't know if you can see, but we've got another friend here, a shepherd. She in the frame a little bit ? Anyway, his trauma, even though early in life he had bad things and then things turned around, he still carries that with him, those scars. And [00:05:00] so he can't seem to let those go. I can remember my grandparents who lived through the Great Depression, they, even though later in life they were quite comfortable, they still had a scarcity mindset. They still thought of what they were doing with the, with having to eat turnips every meal or have repaired, hand-me-down dresses. And so that continued to scar them.

Ben Walters: So your trauma travels with you and you, you've got to dig into that, and address that, and figure out what is going on with that. We wanna talk about trauma travels.

Ben Walters: And then the third thing is, and this is a really important thing with Denver, is that when something feels not right in our life and we seek out something better, that can be hurtful to those who love us most. So when Denver took off again from our house, do you know who feels bad? I [00:06:00] feel bad, and my wife feels bad, and our kids feel bad 'cause they think, why would Denver want something more? We're giving him everything we have.

Ben Walters: And so even though I want you to have a SuperPumped Life, I also want you to think about the fact that if you are steaming something more, it might hurt those around you.

Ben Walters: So if you're in a job and you like the job, but you're telling everybody, Hey, I'm out there. Putting it out there on LinkedIn or Indeed that I'm open to work and I want something more, some of the people you work with, they might be hurt.

Ben Walters: Or in your relationship sometimes, you know if you're a little bit unhappy because of your circumstance in life, the people who love you most might think there's something deficient with them. Now, we know that isn't the case because there's various realms of our lives, so you could be unhappy with your job, but that doesn't mean you're unhappy in your marriage or your relationship. So that's one of the things we've got to think about is [00:07:00] what are the ripple effects when we're striving for that SuperPumped Life of those who've loved and cared for you the whole way.

Ben Walters: And so I think at SuperPumped, we are seeking that SuperPumped Life, but we don't want to leave behind, like Denver was trying to do, those who in love and cared for us the whole way along. If anything, in the SuperPumped Life, not only do we want more for ourselves, but we want more for our whole group.

Ben Walters: Whether that's our whole business organization, whether that's our whole family, whether that's our friend group, we want everybody to be raised up. And at SuperPumped, we want all of you to be raised up. We want all of you to find your SuperPumped Life, to live your best life, to experience all the best that life has to offer.

Ben Walters: As we celebrate 50 SuperPumped podcasts, I wanna thank each and every one of you for listening, for being along the ride. If this has brought [00:08:00] any kind of meaning to your life, I would love for you to share this with your friends, with your family, with your coworkers, to say, Hey, check this out. There's some good here. These are people doing some good in the world, and they've got a fantastic dog named Juno, and they've got another guy named Denver, and they are striving to live their SuperPumped Life. Thanks for joining me today and happy 50th, we will catch you next -- keep well.

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Ben Walters: Thanks for joining me today on the SuperPumped Life podcast. If you enjoyed today's show, I have two really quick next steps for you. First, subscribe or follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube so you don't miss future shows. And second, jump on 

Ben Walters: over to superpumped.com where there are all kinds of great tips and tools for you to launch your SuperPumped life.

Ben Walters: Keep well and I'll see you next time.