5 Important things I learned from “The Dukes of Hazzard”
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1) Take a deep breath during critical moments.
The show was notorious for going to commercial right when stuff was getting really crazy – the Dukes would be just about finished, finally cornered by the bad guys, and Waylon Jennings would come on and say something like, “Boy I tell you, the day they passed out good luck, Bo and Luke must have been out fishing.”
Sometimes we struggle so much in crucial situations, looking for a way out that we miss out on some extremely valuable lessons in there. I’m reminded of a number of rash decisions made in the heat of the moment where I just didn’t pick up on the “big picture” view. Like Seth Godin’s “The Dip” – there are times when we need to bail, but we just keep kickin’, trying to get through to the next thing. So, take a “commercial break” sometimes. Listen to The Balladeer comment on your situation and see if you’re making the right choices.
2) Some people can do illegal stuff and still be “the good guys”, but that probably ain’t you.
Hey, everyone knew the Dukes’ were runnin’ moonshine. But they had two things going for them: their battle against the corruption of Boss Hogg, and always trying to help people. I figure you pretty much can’t go wrong if you’re trying to help people. But fighting corruption is another thing entirely. And funding it with some illegal activity – well, in today’s transparent society, that would just take the cake. I often wonder how much more they would have been able to do against Hogg if they didn’t have the whole moonshine thing hanging over them…
Frankly, I don’t think we see much of this scenario in today’s world – notwithstanding the people out there who illegally smuggle medicine into impoverished and diseased countries, or people who illegally smuggle Bibles into China. But neither one of those activities are like moonshine. So it’s best to steer clear of these types of activities and the the people associated with them. Believe me, getting sued sucks, even when you are right.
3) Your family might be eccentric, but you can and need to count on them.
We’re a long ways from the close-knit families of the past. Times have changed – kids leave the small town for careers out in the world. But one thing I think we should hold on to is the value of the family legacy, whatever it might be. It’s easy to kick and struggle against hanging around too long, and never having any real responsibility for your own person. But it’s another thing entirely to run off and leave all that epic story behind.
The hard-charging A-personality types of this day and age often say “screw you guys, I’m leaving” to their family back home, cursing them as “backwards” or just not “with it”. And that certainly may be the case. But there are nuggets of wisdom and legacy in that history, something that you don’t want to leave behind. And often I’ve found that my interaction with family on that level was as much for them as it was for me. Yeah, it’s humbling and often severely dysfunctional. But don’t forget your past; find the nuggets of wisdom in your family legacy.
4) Even people named “Cooter” can play a crucial role.
Especially for us driven types, we often look at life through the blinders of our own self-promotion. It’s sad to say it that way, but generally speaking if someone isn’t actively involved in promoting our own agenda, we may completely dismiss interacting with them at all. This is just plain wrong.
So, this one is to the dirty mechanic tow-truck driver, to the grocery store bagger, to the elderly person still trying to drive a car well beyond the ability to do it safely, to the cube-dweller who manages to be happy with a 9-to-5… you are important and you have an important part to play. To the type-A who almost can’t stand to sit still long enough to even say “hi” to any one of the above, here’s a personal quote I’ve been working into my life to help: “Life is just too short not to interact.”
5) Look out for people from out of town in unmarked sedans.
It never failed that the Dukes’ primary enemies would be out-of-towners dressed in generic clothes and driving some generic 4-door sedan (that would later be crashed of course). The people cast in these roles you could almost “feel” were bad guys and had some deceitful motive on how to steal something precious from Hazzard County and its residents.
I’m fairly appalled at how many times in my own experience I’ve gone against my intuition and trusted the family jewels with one of these types. If your gut tells you “stay away” then you probably should. A million things can go haywire based on the slight chance that your intuition is incorrect. Why risk it? Don’t take a chance with what’s important to you – trust your gut and take your time when it comes to building deep relationships. There’s a lot to lose and only a little to gain.