The scorching sun was beating down upon me; my skin turning bright red as I watched the blisters quickly begin to form on my arms. Nah, I’m just kidding. It was hot on that August day don’t get me wrong; the heat was totally tolerable and manageable for me at least. But then again, I wasn’t the one wearing a fur coat.
As I’m sure you figured out by now, I’m talking about my little four legged child Gabby. She is an English Labrador Retriever – Queen Extraordinaire. Bless her little heart, she just has zero tolerance for the heat. Anything above 80 degrees and she is just plain miserable. You can imagine then, what was happening on this wonderful 95 degree warm, sunny day. It only took an hour of her constant whining and panting for me to finally give in and take a break. I knew I needed to step away from my busy work schedule so that she and I could head to the pool for a moment of cooling fun.
I’m not gonna lie – I don’t do well trying to relax if my schedule is full of deadlines and tasks that need completing. I tend to get pretty impatient with anything that could slightly be getting in my way of progress, and this particular hot summer day I was maxed out.
I am however, a very dedicated animal lover and a pretty impressive empath, so today wasn’t a day I could just ignore. I was feeling her pain and discomfort and she was really was not a happy camper. So I stopped all my work, put on my swim suit, gathered her gear and out to the pool we went.
I had high expectations for a show of appreciation and gratitude from the Queen. I expected her to give me a fast run to the pools edge then take a quick swift leap into the refreshing cool waters. I imagined her swimming lap after lap, exhausting herself to the point of peaceful afternoon slumber (aka nap). I of course didn’t see any of that. What actually happened was more of an immediate halt at the pool edge complete with a lot of barking and whining. I watched in amazement as she did the paws on hot concrete dance but not once did she attempt to jump in. With no choices left I did what any mom would do – I engage in a brief struggle with her which ended up with me shoving her cute little behind over the edge into the water.
After 3 minutes in the water she was out running down the stairs and to the lawn where she spent the next 10 minutes running circles on the lawn under the hot glaring sun. She was doing doggie donuts.
I was angry, put off, frustrated and now beginning to perseverate on all the things I should be doing instead. Happy fun swim day, quickly turned into: Are you fricken’ kidding me? And then I saw it, my message:
Relax, simply enjoy the moment for what it is.
Finding my heart in a wet puppy’s butt print
Gabby was having the time of her life. She was cool, getting her exercise and thoroughly enjoying herself, so why wasn’t I enjoying myself? Well, obviously because I had set my own agenda. I had it in my mind that things would play out a certain way, and that of course wasn’t happening. Go imagine! Something not going exactly MY way. How dare the Universe!
That afternoon brought me so many gifts. First, it gave me a truly deserved and needed break from all the things I had to take care of. Second, I had belly laughs galore as I watched this silly dog run circles around the lawn with her but tucked low to the ground and her head held high in the air. Third, and most importantly it gave me a gentle reminder that there is more than “one” way that any given event can go, and often the most unlikely way is the most rewarding.
Thought for the day: What perception can you let go of to allow the possibility of something even better into your life? Soften your actions, slow your pace and maybe just shake your booty.
It’s all good.
Finding My Heart ~ On A Hot Summers Day.
