Breaking News: I am a Dog Person

For my whole life I've been saying I'm just not a dog person (don't judge!). I liked them just fine but never had a strong desire to own one. I would pet other people's dogs but I can't say I longed for one. My kids, on the other hand, are dog people! Really any kind of animal, people. They've been begging for a dog for years, but I kept saying no way.

In the past few years I've worked hard and gotten very good at listening to my "inner voice." I truly believe that if we make the time to get quiet and still, we can always find our own answer. Often we are looking around, seeking opinions, going on what feels easiest, jumping to conclusions . . . without really pausing to wait for the answer.

For the last year or so I noticed myself paying more attention to dogs.  I watched my brother's dog while they went on vacation. I asked friends I trusted how much work it really was, and why it was worth it. My former college roommate who happens to be my current neighbor (I know! How awesome is that!?) proposed that she and I get dogs from the same litter, so that they could be near a sibling and we would take turns watching each other's pups while on vacation. I just opened myself up to a maybe. I wanted to do it for my kids, but I knew I couldn't do it only for my kids.

Imagine my surprise when one day I saw a Facebook post from a former babysitter/current friend who said her dog was pregnant with 10 puppies. And they happened to be Goldendoodles, my favorite kind of dog. But most surprising was that my inner voice said

DO IT.

What, inner voice? Shouldn't I think this over? Surely I don't really want to do this?

DO IT.

So right then and there, I put down a deposit for our puppy (and my neighbor's puppy, even though I couldn't get a hold of her, it just felt like the right thing!). Over the course of the next 10 weeks I'd check in with my inner voice when my regular world voice was saying "what the hell are you thinking?"  my inner voice kept saying, Yep.

So on Thursday I went and picked up this sweet little girl. Pippi Sunshine Lynchard. It felt so right. I surprised my kids with her after school. My daughter said "this is the best day of my life" and my son whispered to the puppy "I love you already". It just felt perfectly right. 

How about you? What's the "dog" in your life? Can you hear your inner voice?

PS My neighbor also got the dog because her inner voice said YES too! :)