Theories and such

So I’m sure you’ve been wondering why you haven’t seen much from the bloomin’ blogger lately…or at least that’s what I tell myself…that surely there are people out there disappointed when I don’t write…Regardless, I have a really good reason and here she is!
This is our new puppy, Sage. She is eight-weeks-old and arrived in our house on Wednesday night. Since then, my sleep has been limited, but the joy scale at our house is off the chart. She is the smartest, funniest, most engaging little dog. As my Dad says, now we can turn off the tv and just watch the puppy!

We got Sage from a wonderful breeder, Larkspurs Labradors, where owner Marci Sale spent more than an hour going through all the information we needed to provide Sage a good home. This followed my purchase of two books at the bookstore on raising Labrador Retrievers. Of course, I’d  also bounced around a huge variety of internet resources. Plus, I have owned three other dogs in my adult life, so I had some relative experience. Regardless, my confidence waned as Marci explained all the special treatment that would make a puppy feel secure in its new environment. My puppy-raising retrospective suddenly seemed lackluster and inadequate.

When I begin to feel the churning waves of too-much-information swirling about me, I go back to this favorite memory gift moment.

In the early 90s, I shared a womens study group with a remarkable lady in her eighties named Florence. Many of us in the group were mothers of young children. One day, after listening to a variety of complaints about parenting and family issues, Florence said, “You girls know what your problem is? You just know too much. All these books you read, all these theories and APGAR scores and worries..in the end you know what you’re going to do? The same thing your Mothers did! You’re going to love your children and hope they grow into adults who are loving enough to forgive you for all the mistakes you’ll make.”

inside each of us is a place where instinct and intuition still guide true. It’s the place in our heart of hearts where every parent and every teacher hoped we would go to retrieve direction following their admonition, “you’ll know what to do…” at those times we reach the fork in the roads of “Good Way Less Traveled” and “Easy Street/Slippery Slope”.

Whether you’re faced with a difficult decision in a relationship or a business, that guidance is still available to you. Unfortunately, often we tune out the natural ability to do what’s right, seeking instead to do what’s proven…or worse…what’s popular. Consultants are brought in; task forces assigned; the opinions of every board members are gauged, all while the thing that is needed is for one person—perhaps two or three at most—to listen to the still small voice inside that reminds them what is right.

The inclination toward goodness prevails in every heart until ego and expediency usurp its position. As they grow, we remind puppies, “be good.” That is what we need to remind ourselves. Be still and quiet long enough to discern what’s right. Then do what’s right. And be good.

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