Sun, Mar 13, 2016

We are fostering an 8 week old Labrador Retriever puppy right now, which means we haven't gotten any sleep in the last week. The little guy's name is Kirby and he goes from 0 to 100 in 3 seconds. This morning he was sleeping peacefully, which means he wasn't tearing holes in our feet with his little Edward Scissorhand teeth.
I turned my head for a split second and he had bolted from his sleeping position across the room to our 10 year old female yellow lab's feet, which he promptly proceeded to try to remove from the rest of her body. After playing for 2 minutes, which consisted of our older lab wagging her tail and Kirby using the tail as a play toy, he fell down onto his side and went to sleep.
That is just how it is with puppies at 8 weeks old. They go from one extreme to the other with no intermission. An intermission would be nice. You know the ones where the announcer says, "Ladies and gentlemen, we will be l pausing for an intermission for the next 15 minutes, during which time you can get up, stretch your legs, go to the restroom, go get a drink or a snack." But no such announcer is available nor is the intermission present.
I started thinking about how grateful I am that I have a little bit of wisdom under my hat. While some might see it as gray hair, I like to believe that as we grow older, we don't have to go from 0 to 100 all at once, even if we were physically able.
We have so many shades on our aging color wheel, I don't have to run hot or cold. I don't have to be elated or despondent. I can just be.
I think we all know someone that resembles Kirby, without the cuteness. We likely work with two or three of these folks. You know what I mean. These are the people in our lives who will complain if their new diamond ring is too shiny and bright for their eyes. They are actually quite miserable people with whom to work, as you can suggest a great idea, and no matter how great it is, they will find fault with it. There are such folks in the world who simply are happier being miserable. It is difficult, at best, to work with people like this as nary an idea can slip past them without their ability to make someone around them miserable, as well. There are others, too, who may on the outset seem happy but they might be so scattered that we can't pin them down for a particular idea or plan. I have learned somewhere along the way that being too far to either extreme can be dangerous. Instead, remaining fairly even keeled in the face of life is likely the way that I should probably handle each situation that comes along.
While it might be funny to watch a YouTube video of a cat going nuts and running around a room, nobody really wants to work with that cat. Especially if that cat is a 50 year old grumpy guy who teaches down the hall from you.
To say that we are enjoying having a puppy around the house for a little while is the understatement of the century. He can continue to go from sleeping angel to waking maniac for a little while longer and we will totally forgive him and probably even enjoy him. After a few more weeks, though, he will be expected to Buck Up! just like the rest of us!
Just for today perhaps we can see the nice side of things in our lives and resist complaining. I sure am enjoying all the good that has come my way! I hope you do too!
Happy communicating!
Shelly