Dog Attack, Hurt My Back, Life Lessons

     This past week was one I hope to not repeat again.  My week started out fine, Monday was Scott and I's 35th anniversary, and it was a really nice dinner at home celebration, probably one of the more charming ones that we have had in many years.  So what happened later in the week was equally poignant because it illustrated how tenable life truly is and how it can change in a moment's time. As adults, everyone knows this. Yet like so many events in life, we just as quickly forget the fact.

     Wednesday started out fine,  I went to help at our Church's Early Learning Center to prepare community meals, then attended a Matin's service and did a couple of housekeeping items for the Altar Guild.  Following that, I came home and changed clothes to take m dog Sydney out for a walk before the day heated up too much for her to be able to enjoy the activity.  Before we left, I watered the plants in the yard, knowing that Sydney loves the hose water and would want to play in the water and get soaked, which in turn would help her stay cool when we walked.  We got her harness on, left the house, and began our walk.  We had only walked a short distance around the first side street from home when I saw a black labrador sitting in the middle of the road just ahead of us.  I have never seen this dog before and it was off its leash and no owner in sight.   I saw a neighbor to my left watering her flowers, and my first thought was "Sydney would like to play in that water,"  my second thought was, labs are usually nice, but maybe I should pick up Sydney and hold her as I walk by just in case. Before I was able to even bend down, the black lab came charging at us and went for Sydney, biting her and trying to tear at her.  I desperately tried to hit the dog as Sydney yelped and yelled and I yelled at the dog.  The neighbor who was watering came running to also yell at the dog while running to the home of the person she knew owned the animal.  Finally, I let go of Sydney's leash, and she took off running, speeding by the labrador, and running up the street towards our home.  I couldn't run as fast as Sydney, but after screaming at the labrador to go home I took off running to home as well to check on how badly Sydney was hurt.  By the time I got home, Sydney was barking her little fluffy head off, sitting on the porch, I couldn't see any broken skin right away, so I put her in the house, shut the door, and went back to the scene of the attack to confront the owner.  The owner was remorseful, said her dog was accidentally let out of the yard by her children, and her dog "just didn't like other dogs."

      By the time I thanked the neighbor who tried to assist Sydney and me during the attack, I realized that I had terribly wrenched my back in the ordeal.  Within the span of one hour, from leaving the church to trying to take my dog for a simple walk, my immediate world had changed.  (Reader, my husband did call animal control to report the attack, and we took Sydney to the vet too and she was just bruised and given pain pills.)

The lesson I was slapped upside the head with Wednesday was, although we all know that life can change in the blink of an eye, somehow we forget in between those blinks.

We get complacent and overly comfortable with the situation we are in.  Things roll along, we build a nest so to speak with our family and friends, enjoying good health, simple times, and easy happiness.  But then we blink, and something happens.  An accident, an attack,  bad news from a medical test,  loss of a job,  a change in location of a friend, a worldwide pandemic....and our world as we know it has forever changed.

As blinks go, mine is minor.  My dog is fine.  I saw my back surgeon and got an injection.  It still hurts terribly but I will begin walking by myself every day and try to rehab my back.  I may not be able to go to Group Fight class at Genesis for a while, but in time I will heal.  If not I will go back to the doctor. I am fortunate.

Many people's blinks are much more tragic.

I feel like a lesson is in all of this that needs to be shared.  I think no matter what we are handed when we blink, attitude and response are the most important and must be purposefully chosen.  Anger and frustration are easy to choose.  Worry and fear are also easy to choose.  Sadness and self-pity are certainly simple.
Yet, we are not promised ease in life, we are not promised joy, we are most certainly not promised happiness.  We must purposefully choose to be happy, joyful, and content in all circumstances.

Life will change repeatedly, as this is the nature of time and events. We will struggle, be hurt and our world will change from our comfortably built nest.  But that is okay, as long as we purposefully work to choose a positive response to the change.  My goal for myself and prayer for others is that when faced with change, with pain, or with turmoil, a positive choice will be made, and that the love that exudes from the choice will touch many.