Animals, Reflections

In the Moment – More Lessons from Meadow

bitsybody

It has been a crazy two weeks from traveling to VA, getting settled at home, friends arriving from the UK, and our kids being busier than I thought. Why does summer seem to sprint while winter crawls on? In the midst of laundry, cooking and all things to the backyard, I watched our sweet Meadow grow long legs. Lauren this week said that Meadow looks like a deer.

How she is full of life and continues to teach me life lessons. While I spend so much time with her hoping that she is getting closer to being potty-trained, I find myself watching her in amazement. I think we can learn so much from how she responds to her environment teaching us a calmer path forward. Here are some observations of Meadow’s teachings. How can she help me live with chronic disease feeling full of life and not afraid?

Meadow’s Teachings

  1. Meadow’s gets a collar – people and life might put a new collar on you – you struggle with it – jump around and fight but eventually you go with it and find happiness and play still wherever you go. Meadow spent 5 minutes challenging the collar and then she just went with it. She makes the collar look great and keep on going being curious everywhere she goes.
  2. The hose – some might look at a hose as just for drinking or watering but Meadow finds fun in catching and snapping at the water. So cute and funny – you can’t help but laugh and smile at the excitement she shows with water coming out as an adventure and amusement.
  3. Picking up sticks – well she loves to eat the yard especially sticks and roots. When one stick is taken from her or she drops it, she is on the hunt for the next one. Not frustrated, she moves on quickly – soon to find another one not too far away. She never gives up as so many more options abound with each step. We are blessed to have so many resources.
  4. Cuddles and belly rubs – being with people and animals is important. A tug on Legos tail, a chase of Tallulah, or belly rubs and hugs from the kids, Meadow is happy enjoying life one day at a time. Being in the present moment and enjoying that second for whatever it may bring. Sometimes it is an awesome treat but other times it is just a head rub when we walk by. She appreciates life and never stops wagging her tail. This past weekend, I walked with 2 dear friends. We chatted afterwards for almost 2 hours. It was so nice to be laughing with them and just there. A true blessing is friendship and just being present with each word said.
  5. Playing in the rain – Rain will fall and get us wet but it is better to play than not. It tends to thunder and rain a lot in Florida so you never know when a passing shower might come. She looks up and tries to take a bite of the rain. Quickly moving on, she finds dry patches where she can to play with her sticks and doesn’t let her stop. When one path closes, she often finds a new way to go. She doesn’t want to get fully wet but she goes with it if she has to.
  6. Weeds – Meadow loves the weeds as much as she loves the flowers. Often we look at weeds and cringe . Maybe the weeds are better than we think? Maybe we have not looked closely enough at the benefits of the weeds. So, I stopped to look at the waterdrops on the marigolds. How many of us stop to take a look to see the waterdrops. My picture shows you how many drops of water are there while it rains. Not one drop is the same but equally amazing.
  7. Moths – In the grass, we have many moths and hornets. As Meadow runs through the yard, it springs to life with them flying everywhere. She chases them in all directions excited to see which way they will go. Never a doubt going forward, she goes from one to the next hoping to make a catch. We must live life springing forward chasing a path with gusto.

As I look back over the last 10 days, I quickly become frustrated that I didn’t set time aside to blog, work in the backyard or cook some of my favorite recipes. I can ponder over the reasons why and start listing them to make me feel better or I can simply start again. I know this is something that I enjoy and it is a fun way to talk to others about how we can have a great trip on this journey called life. I must adapt just as my body adapts to a new normal with a chronic disease, how the household adapts to 5 teens as sweet friends from the UK are staying with us, adapt to changing weather from blistering sun to rain, and just adapt to life. I remember that I told myself last week to embrace life so here I go again with the same start – embrace life like Meadow shows me each day. Love unconditionally, help others and be a force of change for the better. We got this and everyone has the chance to start again. Thus, I keep going with the blog. As the rain falls this afternoon, the science teacher in me thanks the water cycle for taking care of the garden this afternoon. We have so many blessings in a single day to a single hour or even a minute. Meadow doesn’t live outside of the present moment and I too want to be present. Whether during exercise knowing that it is the now that hurts. Breathe through and we all got this.

This moment is where you are meant to be so don’t look too far ahead as you will miss where you are. Even the weeds have something to teach you.

Time for you go pick up your stick.
Animals, Reflections

Embrace Life – Back to the Backyard

bitsybody

Time to leave the peace of my parent’s home and return to the backyard. My strength is up and down but I find that is part of life with an autoimmune disease. Each day is a gift and some are bigger presents than others.

I thought a quick update on the animals would be fun as they are such a big part of our life and I have been away from the backyard work. We are working on pathways for the gardens, replanting the tower, and fun recipes this week. It will be great to be back in a routine as I missed posting more frequently about my life giving work around us. It really is the best medicine to dig into the life around you taking care of the land, the animals and others.

When I returned home, Tallulah, our cat, had received a package. Quick history – she was a feral and very sick kitten that we rescued at 3 months old. She loves the outside and tries to find her path back to freedom at all times. One of her favorite places is the screened-in porch as she watches the birds and all lizards that seem to walk closely to the screen. Always waiting by the door for us to return, she tends to be more of a dog than a cat. She loves nerf guns and comes running to the sound of us taking them out. She can jump the height of our sliding glass door to pull one off which is amazing to see. Personality abounds with Tallulah whether a constant companion during puzzles or a snuggle with us in a fuzzy blanket, she brings a smile to everyone’s face and sometimes a bite.

Tallulah – Our Jumper

In the package, she received some toys and an avocado collar from “Meow Lives” . She loves the fun colored balls that rattle and I am happy to have a collar on her as she wants to escape outside whenever the door seems to be left opened. She has never worn a collar in the 3 years that we have had her so after the initial terror of having something around her neck, she has settled into her new look. She seemed to jump to regal status with her collar as it has an added bell and charm. You hear her everywhere she goes. My husband is thrilled with the 4am bell ringing as the puppy seems to think Tallulah is beckoning her to wake up. She is a personality to behold in our home of the backyard – fun and sassy – definitely offers entertainment but an attack at times so one must tread lightly on the fun or chase games.

The puppy is finally becoming a playmate to Tallulah and it is fun to see them chasing each other around the house. Meadow and Lego have become the wrestling duo. Whether a stuff toy between them or just fur, they have been enjoying the physical activity – we think. Lego is a trooper helping us expend Meadow’s growing energy. Tallulah is not too far from the action in case she wants to play.

The girls are doing well with daily eggs and lots of hellos as my sons can attest to with their morning egg laying cheers. I came home and cleaned the coop area. More fun updates on them as we work on projects and hopefully some additions to the flock.

Always here to play and help with college essays.

Well it is Monday – always hard – as the family says the night before that they have the Sunday Scaries. I want to change that feeling at the beginning of the week as a chance for a fresh start – a way to embrace the week. When Louie was a baby he woke up at the crack of dawn, I would wake by putting my feet on the floor and telling myself to embrace the mornings.

I told myself then and I am doing it again…

– Embrace Life –

Embrace the morning and the afternoon exhaustion

Embrace the chance to be whatever you are called to do

Embrace the chance to fail and then learn

Embrace love unconditionally

Embrace laughter and the tears

Embrace the workout and the tired moments

Embrace the quiet times

Embrace the noise

Just Embrace!

Reflections

Sun Sets on the Tartan

bitsybody

As the sun sets on my childhood golf course where the sounds of golf carts rumbling by or the smack of a golf club followed by the shouts of joy or maybe anguish have been silenced, the course is anything but quiet. A fun journey into the past while away in Virginia was a voyage around an old golf course my Dad once played. They still live on the course that once was full of golfers and guests of the Tides Inn. It was the Tartan Course in Weems, VA and has been forgotten by golfers but not the land around it. For the residents near the course including the wildlife that my dad has named the boys, they try to manage the growth of vegetation so it doesn’t consume them but the gift of life abounds in every directions as you see nature take over the land once again. It makes me smile knowing life finds a way even into the smallest nooks and crannies.

I spent part of my childhood in Weems and Irvington, VA (the Rivah as some call it) and was home to help my parents prepare for a move closer to us. It is hard to say good-bye to your childhood as we walked the town, strolled through the Tides Inn remembering Thanksgiving meals or even my wedding to the beautiful water that we once swam in as children. Daily walks on the land during our visit lead us to the old greens that I once putted on and bunkers that once were full of sand that I would rake. It definitely has changed is the Tartan closed and I thought it would be fun to show how nature regrows in the absence of the mowers and golfers.

Life continues to grow – fairway outside my parents home.

Some areas are maintained a little so that the few houses around are not engulfed by vines, grasses, insects, animals and the forest. At times, I imagine being taken over by nature and how peaceful that would be. I wish I could send the smells of the course to the world as it is as sweet as candy in my nose along with the singing of the song birds chirping loudly. You can only imagine how active the land is and how alive your senses become.

For fun, I start at the clubhouse. It is still there and starting to show the signs of the forest encroaching on its footprint. As I walked around building, the remnants of tables, display signs and even papers seemed to be left behind as if golfers will return soon.

  • Walkway to back.
  • The porch where lunch was served.

The buildings quickly become one with the life around it. I found evidence all around of the human footprint that once was this course.

  • Can you find the rake?
  • Old water cooler.

The course has been closed less than 10 years – (I think) and already it seems like a time lost long ago. I love the pictures of the bunkers with huge pine trees reaching to the sky or the fields on the fairways that will eventually turn into a forest. The pond that once ate golf balls or the paths that led us to the greens were all there but now have taken on a new life and purpose.

Nature is amazing and I was so taken how the course was possibly more beautiful to me this way than before when I would jump into the golf cart with my clubs. I still walk around with my dad on the course without our clubs now in search of the wildlife that will greet us. It is magical to see the rabbits, the deer or even the groundhog but most importantly a time with my dad. Isn’t that what life is about – the time we spend together surrounded by the riches of this planet (nature) Thanks Dad for your love of nature and the walks on the course.

Enjoy nature as it is life giving.

As you step back, you realize that we are just like the old golf course. We are still there (here) but nature is making us full of more life as we age. It is definitely beautiful and worth the drive. Hopefully we stay out of the hazards.

Reflections

Listen to the Songs Around Us

bitsybody

A positive update shined through as my scans were good. I don’t have any damage in my liver and we can focus on stopping the disease. It is a relief to know that it was caught in time. Blessings all around this week and some time to relax. It is nice when you find moments in your life to breathe and pause. Life is full of bumps and pot holes. How we handle the drive becomes the journey. I will know more about the bloodwork as the days progress but not spending energy there. I feel the Dr. would have told me if we needed to worry so I have to let it be. I start patching the holes in the road and resting when tired.

Colors everywhere

For a late Sunday reflection ( oops late again – might have to change it to Monday but trying to stick with it), I find the time to listen to the music of the outdoors. The insects, the birds to the croaking of the frogs who sing sweet melodies to me if I take the time to listen. It is important that we slow down and listen to other’s songs and not live just within our own music. We each have a song to tell but together the world comes together to make the symphony. The Carolina Wren sings to my dad loud enough so that he pays attention each morning calling out asking her about her story. What is the story of life? I stop to listen to the soft sounds of the woods as I walk by the explosion of color this morning

This week I am visiting my parents in Virginia with my sister away from the backyard. I will not be posting much but it is the first visit with them in 2 years due to COVID. I miss the cheer team and the backyard animals but will be back with them soon – planning projects and working on wonderful ways to continue getting stronger. Lou had rock delivered and the garden paths will soon come alive. He has painted and added concrete countertops outside. His work is truly amazing and definitely sings to us all. Listen below to hear the buzz of the bumblebee hard at work. Lou is definitely a worker bee.

A night stroll – life abounds

As I spend this time deep in the country of VA on the Rappahannock River where I grew up as child, I find my soul becoming quiet and slowing down. I thought for this week that a post or two about the area would be fun as I explore nature. I started a nature journal to reflect and help me focus on just being. It is nice to stop and jot down the date, the weather and what is around me. It helps me to slow down – focus on being present – not the disease – not the stress of returning to work instead being here in nature. It is a gift to be able to spend time listening and I pray everyone will take a moment this week to listen to the sounds around you. You never know what the sounds might be telling you or what magic is ahead. The next recording is my walk around the pond. Listen as I stop walking and how much life can be heard. I added some more pics of the area for fun.

STOP! Take time to listen! Can you ear the difference when you stop walking?

As I finish the day, I try to remind myself that life is a long album – not one done in a day or even a year. One that we enjoy but one that also involves struggles – time to support others and time to find new paths even covered with bunnies and fireflies. Go through life listening to the songs being sung around so you can hear it all – the good and the bad. I sometimes find that life is so hectic that I don’t pause and reflect. Stop – take a second to give yourself a break from your own song that at times screams so loudly in your head that you miss the songs around you.

Stop! Enjoy the sounds all around you that beckon you to listen to your inner soul. A world calling you to be present and live in the moment.

Reflections

The Ups and Downs

bitsybody

Sometimes in life, it would be nice to just have the same old – same old – no excitement. As I sit at Mayo today for my appts, I miss the days of once-a-year medical tests. The ups and downs of bloodwork are hard to keep up with. If you know what I am talking about, you know the anxiety of opening the new message as results come in. They never seem stable. The highs when you see they are finally normal and the lows when things are just all over the place. Today I am waiting for some more results before my scan and they are wonky so far at least my liver is holding.

At the beginning of my diagnosis, my brother told me to think of them as data points. Data that tells the doctors how to help – are the meds working? The meds can’t cure me. It is not like taking an antibiotic and you are better. You hope that they can keep the disease asleep without hurting your other systems. Putting your immune system to sleep is obviously tricky during COVID but also trying to balance all the other systems thus the ups and downs of the bloodwork. When you look at them as helpers, the anxiety drops a little – making you feel like maybe you can make it.

This week has been rainy, to say the least, and I have wanted to post some of my good recipes and projects but my energy has been low. I took a few pictures that I wanted to share through my off week. They make me laugh and they keep me going. Sometimes you just have to look at life and smile even if upside down..

Tallulah, the cat is my bedmaking helper where she helps me spread out the sheets in between the kicks and the jumps of her attacks. She loves the chance to run through the sheets. Meadow is working on not creating as much laundry but that is slow going. We have been washing quite a bit at least 4 loads a day. The girls are doing well but missing my constant treats. They run down the ramp from the coop if I come out before the door shuts at dark. They surely have me trained as I feel guilty if I don’t have any treats.

Life is a blessing – one we get to be a part of – to find ways to appreciate it. From finding moments of gratitude for the ones around your or the love of our beautiful planet, there is so much to appreciate. Happiness is not comparing your life to others because I am going to tell you that you can always find someone who has it better.

I have to remind myself to take moments to breathe – enjoy the sweetness of nature and hold the ones that walk this road with you. My goal is to get back to work on projects and enjoy what I am doing. The animals and plants right now help me smile. My cucumber experiment from the tower looks to have failed but the others are trying hard.

Keep going, get up, and face the day – you don’t know what magic awakes if you keep your head down. I sometimes think that my yelling bluejay is screaming as he approaches the feeder. Reach for the Sun. I love this picture. It was right before the big COVID lockdown.

Time to head upstairs! Time for my prayers and knowing that I got this!

Reflections

Roots – Find a way to Thrive

bitsybody

It was Sunday! Another week has gone by.. time goes so fast and we can’t slow it down. Gardening and yard work took all of my energy on Sunday but it was worth it. Missed my post yesterday but here it is. Learning to relax and work on me time. More plants and I cleaned the tower – we got a lot done in the backyard. Let me tell you that is a big job to pull the roots out of the tower but now we can get more seedlings. One of my experiments is to take the plants out of the tower and put them in the ground. It is amazing to see life continue.

Looking at the roots – WOW! They grow so deep, so massive. so intertwined into the tower reaching the water. The function of roots is more than just about water. They anchor the plant keeping it in place (strength) and being a huge transportation highway of life (oxygen, nutrients etc). How this makes me appreciate the way life fights to live. As I tend to the transplants in the ground, life will fight if the right conditions are there to make it possible to thrive. It makes me wonder what are my right conditions. I teach life science and it is one of the basic lessons to the beginning of school but is the cellular information just it. Does faith, courage, or love encourage life to go on more than the just the science?

Past transplant experiments – it is possible….

Last week, I spent time listening to the AIH conference about advancements in disease treatment – what I should eat (maybe) they are still unsure – again I scream why! I don’t want this anymore but then I stop and realize that is wasted effort. Let’s go back to work. Let’s be the roots in the tower reaching out for more nutrients and love.

My reflection of the week as I head into another test this week is to live and keep reaching out for life. I struggled this weekend with energy. I miss my workouts so much. I want a good bike ride or big hike. Well, I didn’t have it so I tried a new idea – photos. I can be the roots in the tower – I can’t find new ways to live and thrive. I started taking picture of life – maybe about to bloom, enjoying the smells of the grass that is so alive or just being. I love all that is in my backyard and how it keeps me going. I am going to add photos to my posts as they bring me joy and inspiration.

Awaiting the explosion of life.

You know the cheer team – of course they are here. Everyone was low energy this weekend with their own challenges but we stuck together. Ups and downs are part of life. We just have to accept challenges and each other for our strengths but maybe more importantly our weaknesses. What path will each of us take? It might be a path to more challenges or not but we are fortunate to be able to walk a path. This week I am going to try and be the roots of my tower continually reaching for life and finding a way to believe that I can do it.

Have a great week and thrive!

Gardening

Give Life Another Chance – especially your Herbs.

bitsybody

Each day is a new battle and I am not sure how to explain the overwhelming fatigue that comes with Autoimmune Liver Disease. I saw a recent post in the AIH support group about finding passions to keep your days going and I watched a few sessions of the AIH conference to help focus my energy. Of course, the backyard animals make the day and night filled with lots of excitement.

Can I just go to bed?

So let me begin on some distractions to save me as for some reason lately the time between 10 am and 3pm are some of my darkest hours. I could almost go back to bed, but I know that it is best to fight through the fatigue to get to a better place. It might be the medicine, the disease or maybe the rainy Florida weather. With summer vacation, I spend most of my time working on my backyard projects and some pre-planning school ideas. This year in particular since my diagnosis, I am trying to spend time on me-things.

Photo by Vlada Karpovich on Pexels.com

One area that has caught my focus is recycling in all different ways. I love the idea of reusing what we have or what others can help us with. One area that I have been experimenting with is the propagation of plants. I try most every plant that we have in the backyard seeing if I can grow them from another one. I started with the easy ones like herbs – mint, basil, my lavender, and such. It is great. I recycle my yogurt pots that are glass and fill them with water. I then take cuttings and put them on my kitchen window until they start to root. Wait and watch – you might have to add water as it is used or evaporates. (The water cycle) I have tried others but will show you in another post.

  • Cut a piece of mint
  • clean off the bottom of the stem
  • Place in water
  • Cut a top piece of basil – before it flowers – I found this the best for taste
  • Clear off the leaves from bottom of stem
  • Add to water
Look for roots to grow!

I then move it outside to my pots or even into the ground. I love the mint but it spreads quickly if it is not in a pot. One of the benefits of having a hydroponic gardening tower is that I can easily grab cuttings and experiment. I also take the tops of my pineapple and kitchen foods and try them. It is amazing that life finds a way – just like I have to. We all have to regrow where we are planted.

I will be honest that I am not always happy with the pot that I have been planted in. I right now. I want to go back to the pot that I lived in a year ago – a life before the diagnosis. I wish I could be transplanted to my healthy, but I guess that we all can do a move in mindset. We all have challenges – chronic disease stinks as it stays with me forever. I keep trying to find ways to recycle myself and I think the best way is to find some purpose to being here. I want to be best wife, mom, teacher, sister, daughter, and friend that I can be. When I walk in the woods at night, I have to look for the stars. Disease is what it is but there are some bright points. I am aware of what each day means – I appreciate life. The growth of mint in my yogurt pot shows me that we all have a chance. We just have to believe and trust.

Photo by Scott Webb on Pexels.com

I love this idea of recycling in all walks of our life. My daughter and I are getting into thrifting with clothes and possible furniture. I think it is great to give life another chance whether us or the world around us. Don’t give up and look outside to find more inspiration to keep recycling yourself. Look for more recycling ideas as I post more to keep me going.

Animals

Meadow meets the Girls.

bitsybody

The girls bring so many smiles to our day. As I round the corner to the coop, I always call out “girls” and they greet me at the fence with a cluck cluck cluck. My heart melts every time as Darby and Delilah enthusiastically run. It is funny to see indeed as they move as fast as they possibly can. Gives new meaning to eager to see you. Even on my worst day, those two can make the clouds around me seem less thick. A fun daily treat is taking Meadow over to see Darby and Delilah. She enjoys interacting with them and is hopeful that she will get some of their treats.

Wish I could get into play….

Chickens are a love and bring so much joy. Lately, it has been a few harder days as my energy is low. One challenge with an autoimmune disease is fatigue. I am not sure how to get passed it, but I know that it is not in my head or the need of a supplement. It just is what it is – the Drs. wish they knew how to make it go away but fatigue is the number one symptom. So back to the girls. They give me that extra boost of life and smile to keep going. The animals in my backyard give me peace and joy knowing that I am loved, but they need my love. They need me as much as I need them.

To their space in the backyard, we designed our coop to have a few spaces to keep them safe from predators and weather. They have two areas to roam around in. One is attached to the coop and opens up automatically at dawn. The chicken guard as it is called opens and closes by the rise and fall of the sun. The chickens have a schedule and they head inside before the guard closes for the night. We have food hanging in the coop and a self dispensing water bucket with nibblers that my husband made.

Garden added to our chicken fence
  • Easy access to eggs
  • Safety under the coop.
  • 1st pen with water dispenser.
  • Eggs

All in all the chickens are super easy to raise. We let them out of the smaller pen into the larger one if we are home. At night, we lock the outside pen knowing that the chicken guard has already locked them in safely.

Any for me?

I recommend chickens for anyone’s home and backyard. One for delicious eggs but also the fun interaction of nature.

Cooking

Try a Smoothie!

bitsybody

When I was first diagnosed, I had a hard time eating. My appetite was low due to all of the medicines, stress and overall life challenges. I worried about my diet as I didn’t want anything to inflame my liver further. My doctor said that diet wouldn’t change the disease, but it definitely could help my overall health. Well, I had constant scary thoughts that the food that I used to eat could cause inflammation possibly worsening my weekly blood tests. For autoimmune diseases, the AIP diet, anti-inflammatory diet, is the one that I saw recommended the most. My doctor agreed that it is a super healthy diet but extremely hard to follow day to day. So 7 months later, I have adopted some parts of it with some other healthy eating tips along the way. I thought I would share some recipes along my journey as I continue to cook through my life with a wild immune system. I will note if the recipes are for the family and not on my diet as one of sons loves to cook. His recipes are fun, super yummy and must be shared.

Bitsy’s Berry Spinach Smoothie

First – collect your fruit and spinach. I tend to use fresh spinach but you can use the frozen one as well I love some banana, apple (with skin), berries, and frozen mango or pineapple. I have even added in frozen avocado as well.

** One note – fruits have a lot of sugars – natural sugars yes but still sugars. With AIH, many of us live on steroids with our autoimmune meds. Your sugar intake might be something that you have to monitor so be aware if you are making this smoothie. I found that it helped me and my sugar did not spike or crash.

  • 1/2 banana
  • 1 cup of spinach
  • 1/2 cut apple
  • 1 1/2 cups of mixed berries
  • Handful of blackberries
  • 1/2 cup of mango or pineapple

Then, I add some fresh squeezed orange juice to the blender. I add enough orange juice so that the mixture blends into a smooth liquid. I like my smoothie room temperature and runny so that I can drink it easy. I found that when I couldn’t eat that the more “liquidy” my smoothie was; the easier it was to get down.

  • Start with 1/2 to 1 cup
  • Should look like this.
I also added a touch of cantaloupe as I had a few chunks left. Watermelon can make your smoothie sweeter.

As you can see above, I do not use a lot of liquid as my smoothie are mostly made from fresh fruits. If you use more frozen fruits, you might need to add some water or more orange juice so that it will blend easily.

Blended Bitsy’s Berry Spinach Smoothie

I love having a Go-To Smoothie when you have to get berries and other essentials vitamins into your diet. For some reason, I was able to drink this each day in the beginning of my journey and it helped give me a little strength. There are lots of recipes out there so try one out and make it your own. There are days I add honey, protein powders, yogurt, or even mint with lemon depending on the needs of my body that week.

Here’s to a great 2nd week on my blog and our time exploring together. A life journey is better with people walking along with you. Thank you to the all who are reading.

Reflections

Reflection – Live like a Puppy

bitsybody

How quickly a week goes by! I am already at Sunday Reflections and the end of my first week blogging. I didn’t get to post all of my backyard fun but thankfully I have time ahead to keep going and dreaming. It has been a week since I smelled the mountain air and sensed the dew in the meadow. Nature brings your senses alive allowing you to know that you are not alone in this incredible world. As I reflect back about my week, I think about how many things that I have learned from the trials of rising fears to the peace of a team hug. Breathe life and relax. As I was reflecting, my mind kept returning to our newest family member, Meadow. Maybe my mind returns to her quickly as she has to go outside ever 20 minutes or her calm presence at my feet while I work. Life as a puppy is free and full of wonder. Shouldn’t we look at puppies as a guide on how to live our own best life.

I stop and dream.

My life as Meadow…

First, I must Love Unconditionally without thinking. She love us all for who we are no matter what and wants to be with everyone; every person she meets is a quick friend greeted with a puppy lick and enthusiastic hello. She loves without judgement and she just loves being herself. Wouldn’t it be great if we could do that in our world today. Love ourselves and love others.

Love to play

I must Trust like Meadow. She trusts that she will be cared for my us, trusts that we will be there and love her. New to her surroundings this week, she was anxious and aware that life was different but she trusted that it would be ok.. By the end of the week she was sleeping on her back looking for a bellyrub. Total Trust! With a chronic disease, it is hard to trust the next moment or week but Meadow would and I want to live like her.

I must Explore. – Meadow is a true explorer where she literally tackles the world around her. She heads out into the big unknown and just goes for it! Puppies haven’t learned about where not to put their noses especially towards the cat or about busy roads but overall wouldn’t it be great to be so carefree that you just go and explore with your senses. Let go and explore like a puppy knowing that your family has your back to stop you from going into traffic.

I want to Play and feel alive – be a puppy at play. Falling over and tumbling down bounding with energy with a desire to get right back up with a waging tail. Yes, some is due to their puppiness and youth but look at what we can we learn from watching them. Play makes us feel alive without feeling defeated. Life is fun and makes a smile. A lot research has been conducted on how smiling can positively lift your mood. Give it a try – I want to feel like a puppy.

I must learn to Rest – Well, when it is time to rest – puppies just plop down where they can and take a break. They know when to stop and relax whether from fatigue or too much interaction with others. Listening to their bodies, they take time to rest which will quickly turn into another 20 minute burst of energy. I so need a puppy reminder to step back; listen to my body and have some ME time.

I must go on a puppy walk. Meadow’s walks are a time for her to smell and see what is around. So many times I arm working on our own problems, listening to media and not being in the moment that is right there. What plants are there, animals, other friends to meet, fun smells or other amazing parts of nature right in front of you? Being present gives your body time to relax and recharge – puppies are the ultimate at being present. They don’t anticipate except for the present moment that they are in – living life more carefree without dread.

Time for our walk to explore.

I must value being with others. Meadow wags her tail when she sees Lego in the morning and quickly curls up with him for a nap to take a rest. Daily visits with Roo, our cat, are a time to say hello to one that hasn’t accepted her yet. The opportunity to love on Roo is never missed and she comes back each day for multiple encounters with a waging tail and an enthusiastic pounce. We then head out to see the girls – our chickens for a quick hello. Meadow loves to see everyone in the backyard. What if I could have that happiness when I see people that I feel aren’t so into seeing me? I need the spirit of Meadow to give me courage to keep going out, see people and reach out for relationships.

Snuggle with others

The daily hellos!

I must learn to love what is front of me. We have so many choices in our modern world; food especially where we live. Puppies aren’t picky. Meadow loves any food – maybe a little too much but I love how she tries new things and eats what is planned for her. I think if my diet for AIH was better I might fight my diseases’ inflammation better. I will blog on my diet later but life as puppy would make diets easier.

I think I could go on and on as she is curled up under my feet. Meadow is a breath of fresh air just like her name invites me to a place where peace and sweet smells can be found. As you go out this week, try a day, an hour, or even a minute as a puppy – it might just be the change that you need to feel free and alive.

As Meadow barks, Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there. Meadow and I wish you a great day!