In case you don’t know or did not remember, I have had many hip surgeries so I can emphatically emphasize that I am not Miss Wigglebutt. Miss Wigglebutt does have a message though.
Her message is one of love and patience. You see, Miss Wigglebutt is my pet name for my new puppy, Gigi. I have this over-the-top need to love on her and talk to her like a baby in a high- pitched voice. She fills my heart with joy. I could be gone for two minutes or two days and her response is the same. Crying with joy, wiggling her little butt and peeing on my shoes out of excitement. The kind of love she shows towards me and the kind of patience I show her got me to thinking about self-love and patience.
I need to exemplify the characteristics of my relationship with Miss Wigglebutt in my relationship with myself. Patience and love can take many forms. It can include self-care. It can mean being comfortable in my own skin. It can include grace and a one step in front of the other kind of attitude. As for my next step, I’m super excited to spill my beans!
I have begun a 200-hour yoga teacher training. I have been practicing yoga for 15 years or so and have had this goal for a while, but this seems to be the right time. My hips are relatively stable, the course meshes with my work schedule and I am ready to cross this one off my list as a means of taking my practice to the next level. Yoga, and the mindfulness that it brings, has been such a huge help to my recoveries. It has taught me to be able to pull myself out of the “what if” worry hole. It has taught me to feel empowered. It has given me strength and resilience. Most importantly, it has taught me to honor my body in its imperfection.
So how does this connect with Miss Wigglebutt? As part of my yoga teacher course, I am reading a book, The Yamas and the Niyamas. The author talks about buying a red can of paint and then expecting to paint the walls blue with that red can of paint. Unreasonable and ridiculous to expect that the walls will be painted blue, right? The author goes on to share that, “we can be so harsh and demanding with ourselves …. It just does not work that way. The color of the paint inside the can [will be] the color of whatever we paint” (Adele, p. 30).
So, how can I expect Miss Wigglebutt to be anything less than she is? A puppy who is teething on my carpet and my furniture. A puppy who pees on my shoes out of excitement. I bought a red can of paint puppy and I got a red paint kind of puppy. End of story.
Why is it so hard for us humans to love who we are? We have to be authentic. We have to be that best can of red paint. You can add your own take to it. Add glitter in the form of self-care and patience. Add a high gloss finish; but be your genuine self. Love who you are -imperfections and all. Use your color to paint life’s experiences so you can remain hopeful and hip. Ms. Wigglebutt looks at me as the perfect mama and she knows that when she bites, she will be scolded. She also knows that when she looks at me with her gray green puppy eyes, she will get one melted mama who can only speak in gibberish with childlike excitement. She is who she is and she knows that I am who I am.
Find your authenticity. If you feel like jumping for joy, then do it! Just don’t bite or pee.
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