Liberat.es
What did you sign up for?
We can never know, can we? There is no doubt we generally believe we know. Indeed, would we ‘sign up for’ many of the things that we do if we didn’t believe we knew what it would entail? But the reality of the world is that things often turn out differently than how we thought they would. This isn’t necessarily bad, but it’s generally true. We are, after all, pretty terrible at predicting the future.
As we stood in our yard in the pouring rain, trying to help our dog calm down enough so he could focus on…well…doing his business, I turned to my wife and said, “how come in all of our fantasies of having a dog, we never included this scenario?” It didn’t help that we are a couple of days into some crazy loud construction on our street that has had him quite worked up. It’s been hard to focus for us — which is rough for a couple of people trying to work at home.
The journey of our dog over these last four years does not map out to what we thought we signed up for. But we love him, so what do you do? I know folks who have this experience with their kids (probably everyone with kids, actually). I know I’ve had it with jobs. Ever had a job that turned out to not be what you thought? Ever find out about five minutes in? This can be true of everything, no matter how small. From movies and plays to concerts to marriages. From a first date to relocating to a new city.
It seems to me that one of the greatest skills that we can develop is to flow with what is right in front of us — regardless of what we ‘signed up for.’ Not to say that we should just put up with whatever is right in front of us. But giving up in the face of it doesn’t make a lot of sense either.
Regarless of how long we’ve been standing in the rain.
We just love that little guy so much.