Long story short…
Took the dogs to the mountains again. ..not just for their benefit, but so I could get away…had fun…driving home traffic horrible….blizzard conditions not from falling snow, but blowing snow…glad those people that slid of the road are ok…stiff neck…don’t want to go home to argue…oh crap! I have to go buy dog food before I get home…bright idea! I’ll take the dogs into PetSmart with me after a long drive…funny now…not then.
So there I was at PetSmart with 2 wild and crazy dogs that have never gone “shopping” together before…after a crazy long car ride…what was I thinking?! One is Barking at every critter that moves and the other one wants to eat everything that moves…my nerves are raw…I want to go home…but not really…just another argument waiting when I get there…one of the other customers is making comments about my unruly pack as the checker is talking to me about whether I want it on credit or debit…I’m trying to get the dogs to sit, my brain is melting and all I want to do is get home…NOT!
I should have been living in the moment and not thinking about things from yesterday, that morning or anyone other than me and the dogs and the cashier. I should have stepped away from the register…let the dogs “get over” the excitement of the moment…spoken calmly to them and taken control of the situation from the start…but noooooo…I wanted to get out of there and get it over with…I wasn’t thinking clearly or maybe even at all…I raised my voice…pushed the dogs butts to the ground…loudly said “sit!” while I handed my card to the cashier. I clutched the leashes and held my head down like I committed a crime because I couldn’t bare to look at the folks in the isle next to me.
As soon as I got home and as my butt hit the couch, I was over it for a minute…then the reminder of why I went to the mountains in the first place…not to walk the dogs…to get away from having to argue. Suddenly, the vision of the scene at the store popped back in my head and I thought to myself…”Oh God! I am one of those people I see at the grocery store that smacks their kid and tells them not to hit! What have I become?!” Ok…so I didn’t beat my dogs, but I didn’t handle the situation very well. Plus…I’m the one always talking about looking for the bright side and the blue jeans…I guess the bright side is I learned something today…
Lessons for the day…
- breathe…release stress because it won’t help no matter how big it is
- live now…this minute I can only affect what is happening now
- let go of anger…it will manifest in not so flattering ways