driving home from work this evening i was thinking about how life is one long line of choices. there are everyday little choices. cereal or toast? sweater or jacket? scenic route or fast route? our mind asks and answers these questions in rapid-fire succession all day long. for the most part, we're not even conscious of of the multitude of seemingly insignificant choices we make.
then there are the harder choices that require more thought and always a sacrifice of some sort. read a book or take a walk? watch grey's anatomy or start a new art project? snap some photos or take a nap? maybe i'm still feeling the press of time that i talked about here. lately i don't want to choose between these options . . . i want to do them all.
some choices require a long term commitment so soul searching. should we get a new dog or try to live happily without a pet for awhile? should we get a puppy or an older dog? should we get a dog now or wait until spring? i'm lonely without presley and i miss him terribly but there is also a feeling of a burden lifted. the worries and the knowing that i would have to decide to let him go weighed heavily on my heart for months. i'm just not sure what to do with all this bottled-up love i need to give away.
for years now, i've offered up the advice "it's all about the choices" in life. no matter what life throws at us we have a choice about how we receive or reflect the garbage. we can choose to let our anger, frustration, grief or jealousy eat away at us or we can choose to let those emotions fuel positive changes in our lives or the lives of others. it's really just a way to look at life and feel empowered to steer our own course when we feel like a boat tossed in the swells.
if you think for a second that i'm writing this because i've excelled at making smart choices in my life, think again. like every human, i've made good choices that have carried me far and other not so good ones that i've lived to regret. but i own those choices; they are mine alone. and that i can live with!
19 comments:
oh Julie, I think you should get a new dog, but of course, it's your choice.
you are always so reflective, julie. you're still in the grieving process about presley and it might be too soon to even try to fill the void. i think you will get a new companion, but maybe not just yet. as far as choices, we all make some that make us wonder 'what was i thinking?' from time to time. you have a great attitude about accepting responsibility for them and moving on and it's contagious. enjoy your weekend. xo, c
I vote for getting a dog. To fill the gap that only a dog can fill. Decide whether you are up to cleaning puppy mess or whether you would rather give an older dog a second chance in life. Take your time. When you see Mr. Right you will know :-)
I love this post!
Great post Julie! I'm putting your words to good use. It's supposed to rain until noon tomorrow, the day of mty first outdoor show. I'm choosing to use it as a learning experience instead of seeing it as a complete waste of energy and money. UGH!
And...I think a dog is always a good idea:)
Tracy
Dogs are great spirit healers and companions. Some work though. You can't treat them like cats and everyone be happy and well adjusted.
At first I saw just the tope of the first photo and I thought it was a chocolate bar of some sort. You know where my head was.
I hope you are enjoyig the weekend.
I think we make the best choices we can at the time, even when later we know more and wish we'd made a different one.
Sometimes I make choosing way to hard and too big of a deal.
Treasure all that love energy, whatever you choose.
This blog post is so wonderfully written Julie. Very thought provoking as well.
you always express yourself so wonderfully....thanks for sharing your heart with us, julie! :)
julie...this was wonderful !
and you summed it up...we live with the choices we make..until we make a new one to replace that one and I find as women, we have a hard time choosing !
Such a powerful post. Life is full of choices, and some we have no control over. It's true that how you deal with these decisions is the tough part. We lost our last dog thirteen years ago and still I can't bring myself to get another. At times I want one and miss my old ones so much. (We had four German Shepherds close in age and lost them all in only a couple of year's time) But then I remember the pain of having to let go and I still want to hide from that. I suppose you will know when/if the time is right for you.
Hey Julie - I've been so focused lately, haven't written, just lurked... I have just made a BIG choice myself. I'm leaving my husband at home to work, and heading out to ID where my pregnant daughter is to provide 'support' for the next several months. It was a feeling that wouldn't go away, so finally I just decided I had to go no matter what.
I was sorry to read about Presley - they are such family members, you will know when it's time to get a new dog... you will see one, or meet one and voila! Good luck,
K
Julie- listen to your heart. You already know the answer.
No puppy will ever replace Presley. He or she will only add joy to your life.
I've made some spectacularly bad choices in the past. For a while it was hard to make any choice at all, since I wanted so hard to make sure it was a good one. Then I realized that I couldn't let my fears paralyze me...I just had to start walking in the direction that seemed right.
Take the time you need to grieve over Presley, then you'll be able to move on peaceful about your new choices.
I'm still battling with the "another dog" decision. Miss D would love a companion, I know she would and it would be so good for her - but I'm afraid and of what I'm not quite sure.
People keep telling me that I'll know when the time is right or that a dog will find us ... I'm not sure I believe that although I really am trying to.
Love from all of us. xo S
Julie, this was such an insightful post! Our whole life seems to be one choice after the other. I have to tell myself that even the choices that I would say have been bad choices I have to let them go. I trust that the Lord watches me and takes things and turns them around. I can't live with a whole life of regrets and I am facing one of the biggest choices of my life...to be healthy. Now I must make the choices to take care of myself. Thanks for the reminder. you are a sweetie!
What a beautiful, thoughtful post about choices. Whatever you choose, I know it will be the right choice for you.
When we chose to adopt our dog a few years ago, we found an older dog who had been abandoned and transported to a nearby no-kill shelter. When my son saw him, it was as if he and the dog said, "Ah, there you are!" This was the right choice for us. And this dog has filled our hearts and home with joy.
Follow your heart.
:0)
we lost our dog in springtime and waited until summer was over to get an older dog from the rescue, I was like you initially as we had suffered thru a long illness with him, so I know the relief you speak of...I knew it was time when
I was surfing the web looking at the rescue dog sites in my city!
just what i needed to hear this week. thanks julie. :-)
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