Corgis And Character
hive-178265·@generikat·
0.000 HBDCorgis And Character
<center>  </center> <center></center> ---------- Many of you have seen pictures of my Cowboy Corgi Cora, she's a red heeler corgi cross pupper who looks like a little fox. We jokingly call her the *Emotional Support Corgi* because of a very special attribute that she possesses. If a person who walks in my door is emotionally perturbed, Cora knows. Then again, they always say dogs resemble their owners, and my little fox dog intuitively *knows* when a human is upset, just like I do. It doesn't matter how many replies to the contrary that a person offers up, if you are upset, Cora knows. Depending on the level of discomfort, she will either sit at that person's feet and place a paw on them, or in severe cases she will jump into their lap and lay there silently. If it's really bad she wraps herself around the person like a living stole. I feel pretty blessed to have such an intuitive, empathetic little creature in my life, she brings a lot of joy and more than a bit of a kindred spirit sort of vibe as I spend a lot of my day in counsel to others. A large part of my day is spent in counsel with other souls. We all have gifts and attributes that we can offer up in the service of others, and mine is most definitely intuitive empathy. Every time I go out in public a random stranger (or two or three) will unload some sort of angst to me. As a young person I didn't realize that this didn't happen to everyone, I thought it was just part of everyday being. ----------- <center>Apparently not.</center> ----------- ---------- The thing is, other humans just want to be heard. To be valued and to know that someone does indeed care about them. So when my post office lady whom I've interacted with for over two decades is diminished a bit, I know and inquire in my own way. When the checker at a big box grocery store is putting on a front of gumption and efficient productivity all in the name of getting through the day because they just got a life-changing bit of news, I know and offer what I can. Usually it's just active, caring listening. The problem I ran into for most of my life is that I only have so much energy and some people are vampires. They'd rather feed than grow, and I had to learn the hard way about the importance of boundaries. Because in this world each action tends to have an equal and opposite reaction. Knowing what people are feeling and suffering with them while also offering emotional support has a cost. It drains me. And after many, many years of chameleon-like bending around people, I'm more than a bit wiped out.  The problem is, at least for me at this moment in my timeline, is that I still wish be there for others because let's face it, the world is full of so much pain and anguish. Not that I have a savior complex by any means, but what kind of caring human would I be if I just ignored all the suffering around me and didn't do my part?  This morning I was reading about character in the context of sports performance. Why there are some people with so much innate talent who fizzle out and perform badly and how there are those who might not be the best in regards to gifted attributes yet they go on and achieve greatness. This paragraph stuck out to me: >All of these people had character. None of them thought they >were special people, born with the right to win. They were >people who worked hard, who learned how to keep their focus >under pressure, and who stretched beyond their ordinary >abilities when they had too." > >Carol S. Dweck PHD Character is one of the keys to growth. And I have a huge desire to always be growing, because I don't think I am unique or special, rather I believe we all just have something awesome to offer and we need to develop it for the service of others. Yes, it is hard. Yes, there are days and seasons I want to quit, to make excuses for people and myself, to leave them all to their misery because they just don't seem to want to do the work to pull themselves out of the mire they wallow in. But if I did that, if we all did that, everything would stay fixed and miserable.  It's always scary when you are standing on the edge of a big decision and are contemplating choice. The easy, comfortable, yet utimately unfulfilling option is right in front of you, beckoning you to lumber onto the course of excuses and mediocrity. But just beyond that, beyond the jagged rocks of challenge and self-examination is the path to growth. And the handholds on those craggy bumps are dusted with the grip that is character. It's not going to be easy to grow and change, there will be contusions along the way, but journeying forward is never a horrid choice.  We all have something to bless the world with if we are willing to put the work in. Part of that work includes the very uncomfortable task of self-examination and stretching ourselves to grow in ways that aren't easy for us. Action over excuses isn't easy, but if we are going to make any headway in the morass of misery around us, then taking the character trek should be the obvious choice. ------------------- <center>That said, I think I am going to go give my Corgi a hug now😉</center> ------------- ---------------- <center></center> ------------------ <center>*And as most of the time, all of the images in this post were taken on the author's not at all empathic but still very useful iPhone.*</center> -----------
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