This game is hard

I’m a believer in the stoic way of life. I believe that I should bear my trials with a calm and calculated attitude. I believe that I should do good for other people. I believe that I should see both sides of any given situation equally.

Yesterday afternoon these beliefs were tested.

On my way home from work I received a phone call from Amy informing me that 2 stray dogs had come into our yard and mauled our cat in front of her. She was shaken and, scared and extremely upset. She told me that our lovely neighbour helped scare the dogs away and took our little buddy to the vets though sadly he had to put down due to the injuries.

This all happened in a 30 min period that I was in my car so I had plenty of time to think.

At first it was gratitude that our neighbour was there to help and that Amy and the girls were okay. It was sadness that we had lost our mate. Then it was anger. Like the weirdly calculated “DEXTER” type anger. In the interests of honesty, I started playing scenarios through my head where I hunted them down. Where I confronted their owner and told them what I think of them and their dogs. None of it was pleasant and it wasn’t very stoic.

Thankfully, during the car ride I calmed down and thought more about what my family needed at that time rather than what my anger was asking of me. My family needed me to come home and show love and strength and calmness. Not rage and revenge. That wouldn’t serve any purpose other than to stretch out a terrible situation. No good comes from continuing to hold on to this anger.

So I let it go and I let gratitude fill that space again. Gratitude again that it wasn’t Piper in the front yard and that we were lucky enough to be Cadel’s animal parents for the time we got. Cadel was a bloody good cat and our family will miss him and all of the great times we had with him.

The game of life is a difficult one to navigate and yesterday’s level was a tough one but no matter what happens, we are completely in control of our response. That can never be taken away from us.

 

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” Viktor Frankl

 

Pursue your potential

Dice