Short Leash
A friend recently said, “when we are dog-tired, we can be on that short leash of frustration and bark at others too easily.” How true. Fatigue often leads to frustration and harsh answers.
A short leash means strong control by someone or something.
When dog owners want more control over their dogs, they keep the leash short and the dogs close.
People on short emotional leashes know the feeling well. They enjoy little freedom.
We suffer if we allow emotions to keep us on a short leash.
God gave us emotions, but God also gave us minds. We never want our emotions to cloud good judgement.
Let’s choose a better way.
Rather than bark or yell at someone when upset, why not take time to calm down? We don’t want to say anything we regret. If we give it a rest long enough to get a grip, we don’t have to worry about going haywire.
“Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction” (Proverbs 29:18 NIV).
Thanks to Martha J. Orlando for the suggestion and to Chelsey Stone for the photo.
Do you have an expression you want explained or a thought about this one? If so, please comment below.
Subscribe to receive my weekly posts by email and receive a free copy of “Words of Hope for Days that Hurt.”
If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends.
4 thoughts on “Short Leash”
Thanks so much, Diana! Blessings to you always.
Thank you, Martha. I pray you have a good day.
My experiences with a short leash include keeping animals (horses or dogs) on a short leash for control purposes. I’d never heard the “short leash” description for maintaining self-control in humans. I tend to label that one as “being on a short fuse.” Thank you for sharing, Diana.
How interesting, Katherine. My experience with “short fuse” is quite different. That happens fairly often and is one reason I mention on my website that expression meanings vary depending on where we live, family background, and use among friends.