Life and Business Lessons #3

- By Jeanne Doheny (about the author)

There are so many contests in life, the outcome dependent on the decisions we

make as we go along. That is what life is - and the rewards at the end depend on our decisions along the way - good and bad - right or wrong. Some companies hold contests on a regular basis - Publisher's Clearing House, Reader's Digest and

others. Of course, to "win" you have to enter, which brings me to the lesson.

My sister was perusing a farm publication and came across a contest sponsored by a national feed company. Wow! They were having a contest and anyone could enter, if they were 18 years of age, or older. A picture was posted of this humongous red Angus bull. All you had to do was come up with a name for the bull. Of course they had to like the name you submitted and your name actually had to be selected as the winner. First prize was $1,000; second prize - $500; and third prize - $100. My sister was 18 and smart, and I was clever. We couldn't lose!

We tore out the contest entry form, picture, and rules. Methodically, we set about to brainstorm the winning name.

Now, this was a "franchise" bull. We considered what companies did with their names - Target and their red and white target circles; McDonalds with their golden arches; Purina with their checkerboard. Granted, we weren't designing a logo, but might consider this animal's face a logo and design a name to go with it.

OK, here we go. This was a large, very large bull, with a red face and a swirl of
		white hair over its forehead. His big brown eyes stared out at you, and he was not smiling. We considered Max - it has a strong connotation; Rocky - a strong name but some movie guru had already used that and used that and used it again. Red Bull - but that's taken and that could not do justice to the face we were looking at. I kind of liked Charles, Chuck, (as in roast). I even liked Charles with an English accent, but you can't get that on paper. We stared at the picture. Gawd! What were we trying to do? That was a face only a mother could love. A huge, red, Angus bull, staring back at us, looking not the least bit friendly. Actually, he looked rather rude. Aha! An Epiphany! How about Rudy? You know, like that reindeer that guides Santa's sleigh at night. Rude - as in the look on the bull's face. Hey! Even better, Rudapuss! Yes-s-s-s! That was it!

My sister meticulously filled out the entry and signed it, addressed the envelope and carefully affixed the stamp. Into the mailbox. We were EXCITED!

We would split our winnings - $500 apiece. Wow! It was a fortune and we would be rich, rich, rich. Maybe forever. The wait began and the days turned into weeks. Our name was so clever - so unique - it was a winner. We knew it. A month gone by - now two and no word. Our optimism had turned to wonder, then doubt, and now despair. We couldn't believe it. Not first place, not second place, not even third place or honorable mention?

It was disheartening. The name was perfect. It must be the judges. Probably stone-faced, stoic, with no sense of humor.

It has been years now, since that infamous entry. We've finally accepted that we didn't win the contest. But, in a sense we did win. We did the entry together, we laughed and had fun doing it and to this day, we snicker about the name Rudapuss and wonder. What were they thinking? Good times, good fun, good memories. It has winner written all over it.