Last week, I said there were lessons to be learned …
What happened was bad. Sleeping that night was hard. It took 4 days before Luna would walk down that street without getting upset. But, lessons were the best thing to take…
Side Note: While I live in a city with leash laws, and fenced yards… it seems many are “above the law.” Twice a month a random stray follows us on our walk, sometimes a block or two, most for several blocks. Some follow us until we get home. Several homes along the walk range do not keep their dogs in a yard. So I recognize them.
Lesson 1: Focus
Sadly, I have been racing all over lately. Working a little bit of everything, yet following no pattern, and wondering why nothing was getting done. It was in many ways becoming a reckless behavior, because it meant I was not taking care of my needs. I realized this as I became increasingly tired, irritable and unhappy with life.
In recent weeks I had started doing things to improve my life and my scheduling; yet, I have not done as well as I should. This was a shocking reminder. And as this is a severe issue for me right now, it is one that will require daily reminders
Lesson 2: No chasing trucks.
Similar to above, I need to focus on one thing at a time AND learn to stay on track for my overall goal. We were moving closer to home. That was the goal my dog and I had in mind, cool air, breakfast and coffee…. The stray was going along with us… because we seemed fun… and turned to chase a truck. She turned around, she went away from the overall goal.
Lesson 3: My responsibility
This is a hard one to say or accept. I felt responsible.
The stray would not let me catch her. While she had a collar, she had no tags. A responsible pet owner should keep tags. She was running all over, including over my dog and I. With temperature running 15+ above normal (over 100), the walk had to be completed as quickly as possible to get my 10 year old dog home. My dog is not a puppy. So getting the walk done before the heat; taking care of my dog and back to work is my responsibility.
Yet this is not the only responsibility of which I am speaking. This includes understanding some people are hell bent on destruction. My responsibility is to offer help, support, but as hard as it is… sometimes you must let people destroy themselves. Some people are not trying to destroy themselves, but they destroy others, while not intentional, they do things to destroy others. My responsibility is to not allow them to destroy me or mine.
Lesson 4: What can I change?
This is related to the my responsibility. I can not change the fates of others. I can not change their decisions, their choices, and their behaviors. I can not change the world, I can not change the flow of a hurricane.
Then what is the point?
Well the point is to change me, and my view. I can change me. This means those who want to destroy themselves, I offer to “catch them” as I tried with the dog. They can choose to be stopped or not. Rather than witness people fighting, (verbally) I can walk away. If they see me walking away every time, maybe they will choose to change. The person who wants to gossip, I can say no. To those who are hurting, I can reflect their beauty and hope they see it. The world is full of hurting souls who simply need a hand to hold and a moment to see their own powers.
Next episode is “Be the change” or may be it is “Two Truths”
As I’ve said, life is short. The person beside you may not be here tomorrow. That person may irritate you, you may be mad… but what if they weren’t here tomorrow? Think about it…..
Live ♥ Laugh ♥ Love
MJ Schrader
