Maybe you’ve heard this story before…
A woman gets a new dog from the shelter. On their first walk to the lake together, she wonders if he can swim. So she nervously takes out a tennis ball and tosses it into the water.
Immediately the dog runs to the ball - he runs right across the top of the water!
She’s in shock. She's in disbelief. What the…
The dog returns the ball, and she tosses it into the water again to see if she’s simply seeing things. Again the dog runs across the surface of the water, dips his snout into the water, grabs the ball, and returns it.
“This is amazing!” she says. “I need to show someone else!”
“Can you spare a minute to check out what my dog can do?” she says to a hiker passing by.
With the hiker watching, she tosses the ball into the water again.
Just like before, the dog runs across the surface of the water, dips his snout into the lake, and returns the ball. The woman excitedly looks at the expressionless hiker.
Strange, she thinks, the hiker doesn’t seem to be surprised…
So she tosses the ball in again, and again, and again, and the hiker just stares.
Finally, she says to the hiker, “Do you notice anything strange about my dog?”
The hiker looks at her and says, “Yes! There is something strange about your dog - he can’t swim!”
We’re surrounded by beauty and resources - we’ve got trees, water, air, food, family, and friendship. We’ve got clothes for all weather. We've got each other.
You and I, we’re spinning on a big ball of dirt in the nothingness of space. As far as we can tell so far, there’s no other life out there. It's as if we’re living in a special garden all our own in the vastness of the universe. An Eden, perhaps...
Yet most of us spend our days wishing things were different, wanting something that we don’t have, fearing illusions, complaining about others, ourselves, our country, our world. For most of us, if we didn't have something to long for, judge, fear, or complain about, we wouldn't know what to do with ourselves!
We’re living our lives watching a dog running on water, yet all we can see is that he can’t swim.
We don’t see all things. We aren’t all-knowing. We’re not all-powerful.
To me, this is part of the gift of being human: we get to be surprised and awed by all the little and big beautiful gifts that are happening ALL around us, ALL the time.
But only if we’re open to it. Otherwise, we’ll just see our own judgments and complaints reflected back to us in a dog that can't swim.
A friend taught me a powerful prayer a few months back. In prayer, if she asks for anything, she adds “this or something better for the Highest Good of all concerned.”
It’s not a problem to want things, but we often don't know what’s best for us and others.
My friend's prayer, which I've adopted as my own, is an admission that while I may sometimes see only a dog that can't swim, I'm open and committed to seeing beyond that perspective to a beautiful world of possibility beyond it.
Two lines from my daily self-creation process reflect this commitment:
I see beauty in everything. I create incredible value from all life's experiences.
My wish for you, me, and everyone else, dear reader, is that we grow in our willingness and capacity to see beauty, good, love, and possibility in ALL things, especially those people and situations that initially bring up fear, insecurity, frustration, judgment, and complaint.
It doesn't mean we condone. It means we're willing to see beyond the façade.
Thanks so much for reading. ❤️
P.S. There are three ways you can support yourself by working with me: one-on-one coaching, the Mind Mastery Experience happening on April 7, and hiring me to work with your team, group, or organization. Connect with me when you’re ready. 💌