To Bark or Not To Bark, That Is the Choice!

We have a new puppy in the house. She’s about 4 months old.

It’s right there, in the corner. It’s mocking me. I shall bark at it.

We’re both on the deck, enjoying the weather. She just knocked over a small solar panel for the deck lights. It scared her a bit.

So, it’s fallen over and is a little out of place. She is barking up a storm! Moving around it, waiting for it to pounce again, barking and growling in her adorable puppy voice. Like, the panel could do anything to her, aside from fall over and startle her. It’s all she’s focused on right now.

It got me to thinking about how often that happens to us. Something scares us or surprises us or knocks us off course. Something completely unexpected.

It could be anything – a new procedure to complete a task, unexpected words from a coworker or supervisor, or maybe even construction on the way to work.

All we can do, in the moment, is bark back! In a sense, completely reasonable. However, what other choices could we make in the moment? (If you’re curious, she finally stopped barking but is still wary right now!)

We always have the opportunity to make a choice – we can choose to stay in an agitated, wary state. We can choose to keep barking about a situation. We could choose to laugh at it and move forward. We could choose to fix the situation, ask for help, or just walk away.

Really, taking any action is better than just barking in the hopes that the situation will take care of itself. Or someone will come by and set the solar panel back upright.

Here’s my thought – bark if you need to, let it out, and then, act. Keep moving forward. Progress wins!

 Are you ready to stop barking and begin your progress? DM me for a complimentary coaching call. I’ll be sure to make time around this puppy!