Finding Your Way Home

You can believe this story. Or not.

I know the truth of how it all went down but you may find the meaning of it all open to speculation. I’ll tell you how I see it.

It was January 2020 (How little we knew.) Having lost both of my dogs in the last half of the previous year, I had a huge, canine-shaped hole in my life. I had no intention of adopting this dog. My plan was to wait until spring. Still, there was something about this dog’s pictures (listening to a little girl read) and his story (badly abused by a previous owner) that made me want to meet him.

As I sat in the large open area of the rescue, a volunteer brought him out, all brindled excitement, tail wagging, and backside wiggling. He came straight over to me and sat down in front of me.

And then he chose me.

How else to interpret it? He raised himself up slightly, put a huge paw on each shoulder, and looked me straight in the eyes. I’ve not seen a rescue dog do such a thing before or since.

I’d not planned to bring home a dog that day, but looking into those deep, soulful eyes, I knew my plans were changing.

Maybe Bear would have done the same for anyone who came to see him. The thing is, he did it with me.

So why in the world do I tell you this story (other than the fact that it’s a story I love to tell?) And why in the world do I share it in this context of coaching?

I share it because it seems to me that Bear was very clear about what he wanted, and was willing to communicate that to me. (Volunteers assured me that they’d never seen this greeting before.) That’s at least a portion of what coaching is about.

We have a vague feeling of what we want but talk ourselves out of it, either because we don’t know how in the world it could happen or because we believe that such things don’t happen for us (or both.) Or we don’t even have that much to go on. We just know that something needs to change.

Coaching can help you untangle those threads. You can sort through old beliefs that don’t apply and probably never did. It gives you a space to dream, even if those dreams come in as fragments that seemingly don’t fit with any puzzle. It gives you a chance to say out loud the wishes and dreams that you’ve only whispered in your heart, and have them heard by someone who will help you figure out the next steps.

Coaching can help you recognize the life you want, stand a little straighter, and look it in the eye.

And in so doing, find your way home.

Bear