“We have a lot of dog walkers in our neighborhood, mostly out in the mornings and evenings. I’ve been watching this one fellow who has an odd-looking, mid-sized dog that doesn’t fit any breed I’m familiar with; he looks like a loaf of bread. Cute, but he seems reluctant to participate in the walking ritual. Every time I see them, the owner is out front, arm and leash fully extended behind him. Coming along behind, moseying, not forlorn but just kind of at his own pace, is this little mutt. The owner is clearly trying to get some exercise (“get a workout in,” as the saying goes, because it is something to be jammed into the frenzied life). His dog on the other hand is simply out to be out, to enjoy the world.
Today the mutt has rolled over on this back on the sidewalk, paws up in the air in playful protest, while the owner was out front, arm and leash fully extended, tugging to get his companion moving. It made me laugh.
And then I realized—that’s my soul; that’s me and my soul. I’m trying to get my soul to come along in a way of life it just doesn’t want to cooperate with. Pay attention: if it feels like you’re dragging your soul along behind you, take notice. Maybe you’re asking it to move too quickly through the myriad challenges of your life, with no transition. It might just need to lie on its back and put its paws in the air for a few minutes.”
Friends, these are words I needed to hear to tend to my own soul being dragged behind me during these days of relentless change and adaptation. It’s exhausting and my SOUL just needs to lie on its back and put its paws in the air for a few minutes. May it be so.