A Lifestyle Lesson in How to Do Anything
As you may know, I’m in California this week soaking up the sun puppy sitting for a bit. If I’m being honest, it’s been one of the most enjoyable weeks on this trip and also the most difficult. I’ve had to be patient with my writing and gentle when I don’t post these lessons on time.
Let me be clear: these puppies are so sweet and kind, and have made Milo their friend. Everyone is well-behaved and pretty chill most of the day. In this way, I am very fortunate to have their company.
And also, they are puppies and this is one of the first times their mom has been away for so long. So amidst the sweet chill vibes, I’m also being pulled like a rag doll down palm-tree lined streets, picking up piles of poo and puddles of pee, and waking up every two hours in the middle of the night to let them out to prevent the latter.
I learned early on that I can’t walk the three dogs together, so I’m doing three times the work. The puppies have an intense reaction to other dogs, barking and pulling on the leash. And Milo is quite protective of the other dogs and quickly tries to put the puppies in place. The result is loud, violent, chaos that I can barely contain.
To say the least, I now walk them separately. The puppies together. Milo on his own.
While I walk the puppies, Milo goes in a kennel. While I walk Milo, the puppies get locked in a bedroom.
If you’re a paid subscriber and read the lifestyle lesson in listening to your guides earlier this week, you already know this got pretty interesting. The apartment has shiny silver door handles -not the knobs, but the actual bar-like handles. Unfortunately, one of the puppies figured out long ago that jumping on the handle opens the door.
One morning after taking Milo out, I came back to find that the puppies had locked themselves in the bathroom and basically annihilated a bag of toiletries they weren’t supposed to be able to reach.
I had to figure out a way to prevent this from happening again. Because I couldn’t turn the lock around, my brilliant solution was to take off the metal door handle entirely. It was quick, easy process and made it impossible for them to be in the bedroom without again locking themselves in the bathroom. Problem solved.
I ended up doing the same for the bedroom door out into the living room because at some point, it popped open long enough for me to think maybe they could open that too.
The result was a pretty solid solution. Neither door handle was available to them on the inside, but I could easily enter using the door handle on the outside.
Hold your applause.
My guides told me to leave one of the handles in the bedroom a few times, and I didn’t do it. I didn’t want to put it in a place where they might find it and chew it, and I didn’t feel comfortable dropping it into one of the tenant’s drawers. So I left the handles just outside the master bedroom where I could easily grab them if I needed to get into the bathroom or out of the bedroom.
Fast forward a few days. All three puppies and I are sitting on the patio, which is accessed via the master bedroom.
You might see where this is going…
The puppies were playing and Milo was barking while I was working, and at some point, I had to minimize their space so they’d be less crazy, so to close them off from the rest of the apartment, I closed the master bedroom door.
The same master bedroom door that no longer had a handle on the inside. 😳
So now here I am, stuck in a master bedroom with three dogs and no exit strategy. Try as I may, I could not get the little nub of metal to rotate. The door is set up so that without the handle, it simply does not work.
My first response was a nod to my spirit guides acknowledging that they had told me this would happen and I didn’t prepare accordingly. My bad.
My second response was to use a skill I’d learned on this trip, which I consider a good step-by-step guide on How to Do Anything.
Here’s how it works.
Remember you have everything you need.
If you don’t have it, you don’t need it. But remember, the way your soul defines need is likely different than the way your body defines need. Whereas your body thinks it needs immediate solutions, lots of money, and an easy button, your soul knows that taking time, learning to conserve, and moving through challenge might be the exact lessons you need to become the person you’re meant to be.
I learned this lesson early on in my trip when I was in the early stages, still worried about how to get electricity and dispose of my waste. Obviously, these were novice problems, but at the time, they felt super intimidating as I was accustomed to having everything easily accessed from my apartment.
As I was sitting locked in that bedroom with a bunch of dogs, that’s the first thought that came to mind.
I have everything I need.
I calmed down a bit and remembered I had my cell phone. Called maintenance, no answer. Called the office, no answer. Called the security team because SOMEONE was going to help me get out of here one way or another.
Although the security team actually couldn’t enter my apartment, they managed to get a hold of the office via a number I didn’t have, and the office manager called me back about 15 minutes later.
Be honest about your feelings.
Let’s be honest, this was a super embarrassing situation today. The fact that I had to reach out to so many people made me feel seen in a way that felt a tad bit uncomfortable. Not only did I feel like Rapunzel stuck in a tower, but I also had to admit to everyone that:
I was overwhelmed by the relentlessness of puppies’ desire to escape.
I had removed door handles which probably shouldn’t have been removed.
I had made the mistake of not putting the handle where I could access it as needed.
A previous version of myself would have wanted to lie about it all to save face, and I certainly wouldn’t have told other people how I felt.
But the older, wiser version of me has learned that people actually are a lot more understanding and helpful if you’re honest and vulnerable about how you’re feeling.
Being honest about your feelings puts you in a place of responsibility. This prevents you from expecting others to solve your problems and makes it easier for people to simply help you without feeling blamed.
So when I spoke to the office manager, I was honest. I told him that I had removed the door handles, why I had removed the door handles, and even said “I’m so embarrassed, thank you for your help.”
He was reassuring and sent the maintenance team immediately to my door.
Use obstacles as opportunities.
Unfortunately, the tenant, who is in Mexico, had switched locks without telling them and they didn’t have a key to get in. 🤦♀️
First solution failed.
When a situation doesn’t resolve right away, it’s easy to think you’re stuck. Thinking you’re stuck makes it true. Remembering that there are always infinite possibilities is also true.
Navigating toward solutions is all about which truth you choose to believe.
Believing in possibility means you see more possibility. You just need to hold that belief firmly in your mind long enough for the answer to appear.
This obstacle offered up an opportunity for me to do the next step.
Offer solutions, don’t just wait to receive them.
Chances are that if you find yourself in a predicament, you also immediately see a way out of it. Sometimes the way out just isn’t always pleasant or what you would prefer.
I didn’t like that I had to loop so many people into solving my problem, and when I found out the maintenance team couldn’t get in, I was hesitant to say what came to mind next because it would mean disrupting yet another person’s day.
But I said it anyway, because it was my problem, my opportunity, my obstacle, and my chance to present a solution to support my dimension of survival.
I reiterated to the office manager that I only needed a door handle and that I had access to the balcony. I then proposed lowering a door handle to me from the balcony of the tenant upstairs.
🤣
As I write that last part, I’m laughing because the whole situation was just so damn ridiculous.
The office manager said he’d call the tenant upstairs and see what could be done.
Receive the kindness that’s meant for you.
Overcoming obstacles usually requires receiving something in some form. If someone is helping you solve that problem, that usually means opening yourself up to receive the goodness they send your way.
I was sitting on the balcony waiting to hear back about next steps when the woman from upstairs popped over the edge of the balcony. She mentioned that maintenance was going to get me a door handle, and it gave me the opportunity to share what had happened and again, reiterate how embarrassed I was by the whole thing, and thank her for allowing them into her space.
She was incredibly empathic, waved my embarrassment away, and totally understood when I told her the lengths I went to keep the pups in the room. “Dogs are so smart!” she said. She also introduced herself and asked if we needed anything. I told her no and she went back to working from home.
Be grateful.
Gratitude is a magical attitude. It expands hearts, opens minds, and somehow brings an experience to completion.
I wish I would have had my camera going when the maintenance team showed up. Both of them leaned over the edge and said hello. I again mentioned how embarrassed I was and expressed my gratitude that they’d made such weird accommodations to help.
Then they lowered down an extension cord at the end of which was taped the key to my freedom - a door handle! I clicked it into placed, turned the knob, and instantly put it in a drawer INSIDE the bedroom.
The maintenance person came down to retrieve the handle and I again said thank you. A few minutes later, the tenant upstairs popped over again to make sure we’d escaped the bedroom alright. I again thanked here. And I ended the whole experience by thanking my spirit guides for not only trying to warn me, but also continuing to whisper solutions even after I didn’t listen.
What a lovely group of energies and entities who helped me create a solution.
Over and over again on this trip, I’ve found myself in impossible circumstances, unsure of what is next. And over and over again, this is the formula I’ve used to find my way through:
Remember you have everything you need.
Be honest about your feelings.
Use obstacles as opportunities.
Receive the kindness that’s meant for you.
Be grateful.
A solution always presents itself as long as I remain in a high frequency, open to whatever discomfort or weirdness that might come my way.
May you always remember you can do anything - no matter how seemingly stuck you may appear to be.
Now please excuse me while I go clean up yet another pile of dog diarrhea off the floor.
MAGIC MANTRA: I can do anything.