Curveballs Make Life Exciting
We all complain about the seemingly bad things that the Universe hands us. That’s normal. But how often do we realize that sometimes we get more than we ask for?
Take my Beatrice for example. I didn’t ask for her. I didn’t even say to myself it was time to adopt another dog. In fact, I’m quite sure I had decided that my little pack was quite complete. Boy was I wrong! I was missing someone but the Universe was about to make sure I found her.
Okay, I’m jumping ahead a bit so let me back up. If you’ve been reading this blog from the beginning then you may remember me telling you about how Beatrice the Beagle found me. For everybody else, let me recap.
Cara (the HaintOps) and her young daughter Lily (the HaintGirl) and I were on the way to a Dougie MacLean (I am SUCH a fan of his music!) concert in Iowa City, Iowa when we stopped for lunch in Hannibal, Missouri. After we finished, we came out to the car and there was this young, female Beagle sitting by the car, apparently waiting for us. She had no tags and no fleas. She also wanted to get in the car with us. Concerned because the restaurant was fairly close to the interstate and not being the kind of person who steals dogs, I went back in the restaurant to ask about her.
Turns out, she had been there for three days with no one claiming her or even feeding her. They were just as glad for us to load her up and take her with us. Which, of course, after some discussion because Cara was rightly worried that the foundling might carry fleas, ticks, who knows what that might get on Lily, we loaded the Beagle up and off we went. By the way, the Beagle was probably cleaner than my car with no ticks, fleas or other offending issues other than that smell that Beagle’s have when they’ve been upset. If you’ve been around them, you know the smell. It’s sort of a cross between five-day-old unwashed body odor and rancid fish. Good thing I had car deodorizer or we might all have suffocated from the smell because she obviously had been upset for some days!
I won’t bore you with the rest of the story (it’s back in the archives if you just HAVE to read it) but within 10 minutes back on the road, Lily had named our new cuddling and traveling companion, “Beatrice,” and the name stuck, And even though I had the best intentions to find her first a no-kill shelter and then to place her through a local no-kill rescue, Beatrice, like her name, stuck. She became the fourth dog in a house with three big dogs.
By now you’re probably asking yourself and me, what’s the point of this story? The point is that I didn’t ask the Universe for another dog. I didn’t know that I needed another dog, especially a Beagle foundling hanging out at a restaurant on a Missouri interstate. But I did need her and now I can’t imagine life without having gotten to know and love her. She brings an energy that makes life better for me and her three other pack mates — Sol, Star and Annie.
The moral of the story is simply that sometimes you get more than you want or ask for in life. We think we know and we make our plans and schemes. And sometimes those are okay but they aren’t the magic that makes life exciting and an adventure. The magic comes when the unexpected but welcomed events take us on those side roads. Sometimes you get what you REALLY need. Like an amber-eyed Beagle who adds another level of love to your life. So keep your eyes and heart open to those moments when the Universe steps in. Its those moments that make life worth living!
