Aesop's Fables : The Dog and the Wolf

This June will mark six years since I walked away from my last corporate job. Six years since I cleaned out my cubicle, said goodbye to the abuse and cashed my last corporate paycheck. There were SO many unknowns at that time - but one thing I was absolutely certain of was that I could never, ever go back. 

What led up to that day is a long and tired story that doesn't really matter all that much anymore, except in the context that it was all part of the journey that led me to where I am today. And today I'm doing a lot of work with my business coach Lael over at SheChanges to undo the damage, and get my head out of my ass so she can light a fire under it. She's doing her best to make me feel uncomfortable and awkward and anxious and vulnerable and sweaty - and it's working. These blog posts are part of that process. Being uncomfortable and sweaty means we're facing down fears. And that means we're winning. And winning means celebrations and margaritas. As in plural - because just like Pringles, nobody can have just one.

Lael and I have done a lot of work to sort out my cluttered nonsense and figure out what I want and where I want to go. That work has left me energized and exhausted, with the clarity to move forward on a path that is completely cloaked in fog. I recently listened to a podcast that originally aired on December 31st of last year which said that 2016 is calling for people to be their true, authentic, most exuberant selves. That we are opening ourselves up to deeper awareness in 2016, moving toward unearthing the truth - of who we are, of what we want, of where we're going. I definitely feel that shift. Do you?

I'm having a hard time writing anything that sounds intelligent or coherent right now because I'm jet-lagged and I didn't get my nap today - WAH WAH - but what I think I'm attempting to do is honor my intuition for guiding me out of a part of my life that simply was not working for me. While it isn't easy, the best thing we can do for ourselves is to let go of things that no longer serve us. By doing that one thing, we make space for other people/places/things that do.

If you're feeling the pull to expand, to change, to release, to become, to create - I celebrate you. Trust yourself. Honor your heart. Do what makes you happy. Six years ago, I was the dog that became the wolf. And - like the road less traveled - that has made all the difference. 

​

A gaunt Wolf was almost dead with hunger when he happened to meet a House-dog who was passing by. "Ah, Cousin," said the Dog. "I knew how it would be; your irregular life will soon be the ruin of you. Why do you not work steadily as I do, and get your food regularly given to you?"

"I would have no objection," said the Wolf, "if I could only get a place."

"I will easily arrange that for you," said the Dog; "come with me to my master and you shall share my work."

So the Wolf and the Dog went towards the town together. On the way there the Wolf noticed that the hair on a certain part of the Dog's neck was very much worn away, so he asked him how that had come about.

"Oh, it is nothing," said the Dog. "That is only the place where the collar is put on at night to keep me chained up; it chafes a bit, but one soon gets used to it."

"Is that all?" said the Wolf. "Then good-bye to you, Master Dog."

Better starve free than be a fat slave.
​

#  #  #