Bad decisions lead to more bad decisions if you don’t stop to evaluate your past decisions.

There are so many good things about Canada that I could just continually write posts about this country and never stop.

But that’s not to say that Canada doesn’t have some things that are not so good. 

Canada has been a leader in many ways over the decades, but there is an area we are not good in.

As a country, we did a lousy job picking a national animal. 

Apparently, every country has an animal associated with it – lions are a popular choice. Some have bears … big strong animals. Some countries have chosen birds – often powerful birds.  

There are some countries who have chosen animals I’ve never heard of before like the huemul, which turns out to be a type of deer. 

Oh, there are fictitious animals, too – the unicorn and the Chinese dragon.

But Canada chose for its national animal … the Beaver!  

No, not the Jerry Mathers “Leave It To Beaver”. We chose the furry, tree chopping, damn building, long-toothed beaver. 

With all the great animals we have in Canada, who in the world decided that our national animal would be the second largest rodent in the world?

If we were going with rodents, why not pick the largest rodent? 

It would figure that Canada only has the second largest rodent in the world. We had to settle for silver over gold once again. 

And what about the other animal that is associated with Canada? – the Canada goose.  

Here is a bird species that looks great when flying in “V” formation on its way to the USA for the winter, but to have them hanging around on your property is a disaster!

Canada geese must eat a lot because they leave a lot of large deposits on grass, in parks, and on golf course greens. 

Nobody wants to see Canada geese on the ground, and you better keep your eyes peeled if they are in the air! 

Who made the decision to choose animals like these to be engrained in our society and engraved on our coins as national symbols? 

If we wanted to be different or really stand out, we could have chosen Ogopogo or Sasquatch. There is a lot of mystery around these creatures, but at least they don’t do us any harm … at least as far as we know. 

A national animal is supposed to be a unifying image, chosen carefully, considering ecology and culture, among other things. 

When you think about Canada, you think of nice, polite people who are friendly and welcomed all over the world – except not so much in China right now. 

… Yet we picked animals that are a nuisance and destructive! 

I don’t know if there is any way we could form a protest group and get the government to change our national animal, but maybe we should try. 

We could choose the bunny rabbit because that’s more in line with our Prime Minister’s personality. It could be a cute, pink bunny. 

Look, our government is re-writing history in all kinds of areas; let’s re-write it in a way that makes sense. 

We need a new national animal. Sorry Beaver.

Here’s the thing: It might be difficult to change mistakes in the political realm. We have to live with them. But with God, if we are willing to own our wrong actions and decisions, there is forgiveness and a way forward, away from the past. We must first acknowledge where we’ve gone wrong and want to make a change. It doesn’t have to be difficult. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What bad decision do you need to own and then change? Leave your comments below.