Introduction from Alana:
A few months ago, I was walking into one of my favorite coffee joints, Mildred’s, when I ran into a friend. He was having coffee with a colleague, Leslie, to whom he introduced me. Funny thing is, Leslie and I had been connected through another contact many months prior, but simply never met. Once we did, we had an instant, powerful bond. It was immediately clear that not only were we going to be great friends, but we had work to do together. The good news is that we’ve already started plotting and planning!
By day, Leslie Anderson is an inspirational executive coach who excels at assisting organizational leaders to reach their peak performance. And, all the time, she is a fun, energetic, witty and wise person who radiates a positive, optimistic attitude.
Below, she shares the heartfelt story of her beloved pooch, Daisy. Grab a hanky… you’re going to need it.
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Guest blog from Leslie Anderson:
As I wrote this, our beloved Labradoodle, Daisy, was slowly making her transition. She was our family member for 10 years and is the first dog our family has owned. My intent is not to have you pull a box of tissues closer, but to share what I learned from life event wisdom.
Daisy seemed to know exactly what was going on with her health. Because of how her disease progressed, she knew when to keep a low profile, when she had energy to play with her red ball, and all the varying nuances in-between. So what’s this got to do with human behavior?
Interestingly, a lot.
How many times have I known I needed to move out of a role I had long outgrown and chose to stay put? Or I needed to speak-up, pipe-down or question the situation? Or needed to reach out to someone I kept thinking about? For me, the common thread in these situations was I knew what was going on, how I needed to respond, but second guessed my instincts. Second guessing was not in Daisy’s thought process.
Shortly after her diagnosis, the vet reported she would cycle though the a wave of symptoms, regain her energy only to have the cycle repeat itself. The vet was right – when the cycle changed, Daisy had so much energy it defied logic – there was no way our sweet pup was ill! With her new found energy, she found her red ball and played fetch with my husband. With thrill, she bounded down the hall chasing it only to run back and tease us to take it away from her! I had an interesting response while all this playful banter was unfolding, I said out loud – don’t do that, let’s conserve her energy! My husband said, ‘why, this is what she loves to do!’ He was spot on. Daisy knew she was feeling better, responded accordingly and my wonderful husband was there to rollick in the fun! I was the odd one out who was responding from a place of fear.
What gets in the way of us moving from a place of instinct?
When the news initially came about Daisy, my husband and I were three weeks out from leaving on an extended trip we had been planning for months. Instead of making any rushed decisions, we decided to adopt a wait and see attitude and decide closer to our departure date what next steps would be. All appeared fine until two days before we were to leave – she had a downturn. In the end, we chose to reschedule. Transition is a family affair.
Live your life, live your life, live your life.
-Maurice Sendak, 1928-2012