Our son, Mateo, really wanted a new puppy for Christmas.  He loves our Yellow Labrador, Angel, but she's old and arthritic, no match for his boundless, bouncy boy energy. He begged and pleaded. I was dead set against it, because our lives are already full to overflowing with people, projects and pets.  Plus, I dreaded the thought of reliving the hassles of training Angel after she appeared on our doorstep as a stray pup, fifteen years ago.  But I was clearly outvoted by my beloved wife and son.   Nothing to be done but concede -- though I did insist that it would have to be a small, shorthaired breed with a relatively quiet, docile personality.  Zet agreed.  So we went to the City Animal Shelter, where we were greeted at the door by an employee holding an undeniably cute, cuddly and calm puppy.  The kind lady told us the shelter was full, and they had no room for this new pup - or her high-energy sister bouncing around in a box a few feet away!  Two sweet siblings, abandoned, six weeks old, un-weaned and with HUGE paws hinting that they were probably going to be very large, stout adults.  And both were in eminent danger of being euthanized for lack of room in the shelter.  My heart sunk with a thud...
 
You can probably guess where this story is headed.  Mateo got not one, but two puppies on Christmas morning.  He was thrilled.  Of course I was happy for him, but seriously bummed out, too.  And for good reason.  As it turned out, "Ziggy" and "Zoe"  required a LOT of attention those first two weeks, needing to be fed and/or led outside every two hours, day and night. To be sure, Zet cleaned most of the messes and Mateo was pretty good about taking the dogs out during the holidays.  But once he went back to school,  I somehow wound up being the one who took them out 2 or 3 times each night, holding the flashlight, freezing my butt off in my pajamas while straining to see when and if both pups had finished doing their business, which they were seldom in a hurry to do...  Ugh! 
 
But just two weeks later, things are much better.  The puppies have trained us well!  Having established their routines for eating, exercise and elimination, the girls are now sleeping through the night, and so are the rest of us.  And Mateo is having so much fun tumbling around on the ground and running up and down the riverbank with them!  He's also become much more responsible.  He's even cheerful about getting up a half-hour earlier, so he can play with them before school.  And since they need to be walked at least twice a day at this stage, our whole family is getting more exercise than before.  In short, I have to admit feeling glad we adopted the pups after all. 
 
I guess it's yet another one of those not-so-gentle reminders from Spirit that just because things don't go the way I wanted them to, doesn't mean they're bad.  Sometimes it's necessary to make personal sacrifices and deal with changes that don't "feel good" - and that's okay.  That's how growth happens.  And that's true for individuals and groups alike.  Whether it's a small thing like cleaning up puppy poop - or a big thing like cleaning up a multi-trillion dollar economic upheaval by re-shaping that way our nation conducts business - it's important to be willing to look beyond our personal likes and dislikes.  To let go of our attachments to how things used to be, and open ourselves to the uncomfortable feeling of being stretched.   That's where the gold lays waiting!
 
With blessings and hopes of seeing you Around the Circle,