Let's breathe in.
And now let's breathe out.
Take a deep drink of air into your lungs and let it go.
Welcome to a hit of hope.
Once upon a time,
I drove my kids to a farm in the middle of nowhere to get a puppy,
A border collie.
As we pulled up to the weathered barn,
A fizz of puppies bubbled out to greet us.
We immediately plopped ourselves down and got lost in the wild love and ridiculous tumble of puppy energy.
Inhale.
Exhale.
But then we had to choose.
Which one would we bring home?
There was much debate,
But we finally settled on one.
As soon as we started to walk toward the car with the puppy,
However,
The mother began to circle us and growl.
She was not going to let us take her baby.
Inhale.
Exhale.
I had no idea what to do,
But the farmer did.
He grabbed a ball out of his pocket and threw it far out into the field.
The mother tore off after the ball and he hurried us into our car so we could drive away.
My kids and I often recall that moment.
If you know anything about border collies,
It shouldn't be that surprising.
They are ever ready to work,
To go,
To do,
To chase,
To herd,
To control everything and everyone.
Inhale.
Exhale.
My kids have decided that if I were a dog,
I would be a border collie.
Oof.
Now there are things to celebrate about this.
Border collies are intelligent.
They get stuff done.
They're loyal companions right there,
Ready to work for their people.
But that border collie puppy we stole from its mom at the farm?
We named her Summer and one of Summer's many quirks is that she would attack the vacuum cleaner whenever I vacuumed.
There I would be pushing the vacuum around on the carpet in the living room and here would come Summer out of nowhere and she would grab the vacuum in her mouth and try and kill it.
I always worried her tongue was going to get sucked in and torn off.
Inhale.
Exhale.
How many of us are like Summer?
We can't turn it off.
How many of us continue to go after the balls or the vacuums in our lives?
Those things that make our minds shut off and compulsively pull us to them?
Maybe it's old memories,
The shoulda's.
Maybe it's a relationship,
The if only.
Maybe it's the deep wounds we continue probing,
The whys that drive us mad.
Inhale.
Exhale.
What are you mindlessly chasing?
What are you wildly grabbing at even though it might cause harm?
What is driving you to the point of exhaustion?
Inhale.
Exhale.
Try to be clear,
Being driven,
Motivated,
And working hard.
None of those things are bad.
It's about intention.
Can you let go of any impulsive,
Sometimes destructive pulls and choose to only go after the good?
It's about balance.
Can you stop?
Sit.
Stay and breathe.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Oh,
And don't forget,
One of the things collies do is they lean into the people they love.
So can you lean into the good people in your life?
And that is good living.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Live light.
