Hi guys! Welcome to Episode 425 of the Wildly Successful Lifestyle podcast. I am especially grateful for each one of you guys today. Thank you so much for being here………
Ok, so you may not get why I gave this episode the title of did with the story Im about to tell you but I do make it make sense towards the end I promise and it may make you look with reflection on moments you’ve had or moments you will have, just like it has for me….
So we had a really rough time in our family this week. We had to say goodbye to our little 14 year old yorkie, Kenzie. We also called her Lou Lou. She had lots of nicknames. Do you do that with your pets just call them the silliest things? We used to call her Barbara barker because she would bark at the Amazon guys or we would call her nosy Nancy because she would strain her neck to see what was going on with the neighbors when we would be on walks. I loved to just call her my little nugget because she weighed 6 lbs so she was tiny. She probably should have weighed 5 but she loved treats and she was bossy and persistent so I always ended up giving her too many. We’re gonna miss her.
I’m telling you about her not only because I want to talk about her but I want to share how on her last day it felt like the universe literally grew legs and walked among us to show us that life is always working in our favor. It was so blatant. And really it’s so blatant every day that life really is working in our favor, it’s just that sometimes we aren’t aware enough to notice. A lot of times in fact.
So our yorkie Kenzie was 14 so she had lived a long life but she still looked like a puppy. And she would act like one too but she had breathing problems that were not fixable and so things were getting progressively worse. She would pass out regularly when she got too excited or chased a squirrel. We could handle that and it didn’t seem to bother her but in her last week or so she started waking in the middle of the night the only way I could describe it was screaming and by the time I or Eric got to her little bed she would completely stiffen up and then go completely limp and she would often at that point pee on us which made us think she had died but we would rub her and rock her and she would wake up and after a little bit she’d sleep for a few hours. But then she’d be back to herself which was a bossy happy little nugget. So we were torn because those episodes were horrible for her and for us. On Wednesday night it happened twice and her eyes were sort of glazing over, so eric and I looked at each other and we knew we had to help her in whatever way we needed to.
So the next morning we make an appointment for the vet and I call molly. She was originally Mollys dog as a puppy and for 6 years. We had her her last 8 years so she was Mollys girl too. So molly says I’m coming in case there’s worse case scenario. So our appointment was at 12:30 and Molly realized she wasn’t gonna make it here in time for 12:30 so she wanted us to move the time. I’m stressed already and so my brain was kind of frustrated with having to do that. The vet couldn’t do another time until 4 and so Eric said let’s just wait until 4. She’s doing fine right now. Ok. So molly gets here about 12:45 and a few minutes later our cleaning ladies show up and I’m irritated a bit again because I meant to ask them to come tomorrow instead but here they are. So Mayra our cleaning lady got to hug and love on Kenzie. They’ve been close too. So we had to all climb in my car, me, Kenzie, Eric, molly and her labradoodle Prescott get in our car so we could be out of their way we got drive through barbque and went to the park. It was a beautiful day. Kenzie loved it and everyone was happy being together in the car and at the park. When it comes time to take Kenzie in there’s the elephant in the room. She is doing so well right now! Molly even said I wish I could see one of her episodes so I would know how bad it is because she rallied whenever molly and Prescott were around. So we said let’s will let them do their check ups and see what they say. After a thorough exam they said she looks like things are a little better. And they want to try one more medication to possibly help her heart and any inflammation it could give us a couple more months they say. So we are all relieved that we are going to get to bring her home, but also a little Leary because we know those episodes are really hard on her and us as well so Molly and I go ahead and get in the car while Eric pays the bill in the vet office. I’m holding Kenzie in the front seat when she faints and molly said was that you or her and I said no it’s ok she just fainted it’s ok and I am holding her and rubbing her when all of a sudden she starts her screaming again and molly is out like a flash and grabs her and runs her back into the vet and within seconds they have her on oxygen because her tongue was turning blue. And she was completely limp. She was never able to come off oxygen and we had to make the decision to let her go which everyone agreed was best for her. Had that happened with Kenzie 10-20 minutes later we would have been driving or worse at home already with nothing to help ease her pain.
When I reflect back on the whole day though, I realized how every single thing that happened that day worked out in our favor and in Kenzie’s too. Her not being able to be here had us move the time to 4:00 instead of 12:30, which gave her a chance to spend the afternoon with Kenzie, me forgetting to ask Mayra to come the next day instead of today allowed Mayra to love on Kenzie and say goodbye, the new Dr gave us a little hope with new medication allowing us to feel good that we were giving Kenzie every chance we could. Kenzie having her final episode allowed Molly to see what she had been going through, she had only heard us tell her, it also allowed for Kenzie to be at ease in her final moments with all three of us there loving on her instead of going through another week or who knows how long of struggling to breathe.
In a state of not being aware that things are working in our favor, any of those things could have been just the final straw that sends us into a meltdown, but as soon as I started to build anxiety when Molly wasn’t going to be here in time for her 12:30 appointment, I said to myself, there’s a reason that this is in our favor so just let it be as it should be without fighting it.
I felt so comforted and so unconditionally loved because I realize there really is something that’s always looking out for me and for you and the things that we think are awful at the moment and are never going to recover from, those are the things that ultimately save us or awaken us or help us grow into what we were always meant to be.
We think the traffic is an inconvenience when it really kept us from that accident we could have been in. We thing the change in time for our meeting is annoying when it made it so we ended up having time to visit our mom one last time. That job that didn’t work out, caused you to have to learn a new skill, that coffee shop that was closed which made you go to the one across town where you ran into an old friend that ultimately introduced you to your partner. We don’t realize the closing of one door helps us find that new door that’s open.
If you take a moment to reflect on some of the hardest things you’ve gone through in life, if you really think about it…something good has come from it.
Ive always felt I had someone looking out for me in a way and this week I actually feel like it grew legs and walked with me. Making itself so obvious that it could no longer be denied that life is working in my favor even when I think it’s not.
It’s that way for you too I promise, you just have to look for the ways it’s true.
Eric, my husband shared a poem with me yesterday and I bet you’ve heard it, if you haven’t you’ll be glad I’m sharing it now.
Im going to share it with you now. It’s called footprints in the sand.
One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the LORD,
Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: one belonging
to him, and the other to the LORD. When the last scene of his life flashed before him,
he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of
his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very
lowest and saddest times in his life. This really bothered him and he
questioned the LORD about it: “LORD, you said that once I decided to follow
you, you’d walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life,
there is only one set of footprints.
I don’t understand why when
I needed you most you would leave me.”
The LORD replied:
“My son, my precious child,
I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering. when you see only one set of footprints.
it was then that I carried you.”
Keep that poem in your heart at all times. It’s called Footprints in the sand if you want to find it online.
My challenge to you this week is when something happens that hurts or doesn’t make sense remember that you are loved beyond what you even realize and that life is always working in your favor, look for that to be true and you find it in every moment. Share this with 3 people who need to hear it. I love you guys, I’ll talk to you in a few days.
