I’d Like to Thank the Universe…..
There’s No Fulfillment in Life, Unless You’re Serving Somebody.
True happiness can only come from being of loving service to others.
Both of these statements popped up in my world this week. The first one came from a teacher I follow, Dr. John DeMartini and the other from actor, Leslie Jordan. I am big on looking for signs from the universe and it appeared that I was being told that my life of service had value. Perhaps it is my purpose, and I am yet again mistaken that I need to give up my codependent ways.
The answer is YES, or HELL YES to giving up the codependence. That ship has sailed. I believe that my goal now is to learn to separate the fawning from the fruitful. Instead of seeing my life as having been one of indentured servitude, I can now choose to see it as loving service to others. Or better yet, I will now designate myself as World Concierge.
It is a tricky position and may I say one without a very good job description. There are lots of blurry lines and I do believe it will be a tightrope for me to walk. What constitutes healthy service versus the blind ambition of codependence? I can do this!!
Monday night I spent two hours at the emergency vet. It is actually my regular veterinary office which happily is also a 24/7 emergency clinic. My darling Winchester had sliced his pad being a junkyard dog with the neighbor’s Husky. He is a smallish fellow. A mixed breed that I like to think is a Golden Lhasa. He is mostly a lover not a fighter, but lately had has been enjoying barking at Poochie next door and really sounding ferocious. Sadly, he must have stood up with paws on fence and sliced his pad on an aluminum slat. It was a bad cut.
They took him right in to triage. I was holding him in my arms, but he has gotten a bit chunky, so it looks awkward. A nice young man with his wife and German Shepard puppy offered to take him for me, but I declined. I sat next to them in the waiting room. I asked the age of their puppy, like you do. Five months was the answer. I smiled. Then a miracle happened, I had chosen the codependent chatters to sit next to and we were off. I found out the puppy had been spayed that day and they got her home only to have her throw up worms.
I acknowledged how icky that must have been and for once said no more. I then heard they had to call six places to try to get her in somewhere. There were a lot of details and a litany of the costs that they had incurred since acquiring her. They had not planned on getting a second dog, but they went to just look and here they were. I suggested they switch over to my clinic as their pet insurance policy, especially for puppies, is a bargain. The wife agreed and then she proceeded to give me other quotes she had been given by their vet and the awful things that had happened to the pup. In the middle of this an older woman, probably younger than I, came out with a heavily sedated greyhound that was having trouble walking. The young man offered to carry it to her car.
“She weighs over 79 pounds.”
“No problem, “he said as he swooped her up and carried her to the waiting vehicle.
I felt as though I was at a Codependent’s Anonymous meeting. My people were right here with me. Oversharing, over caring and leaking assistance all over the place.
I became emboldened and went into hyper-drive. I gave them pricing on the insurance policy. I told them about the veterinarian college and that if they ever needed major surgery to consider that as it was a huge reduction in cost. I mean, with two dogs they needed to know that. And then the miracle happened. The young man looked at me and asked if he could shake my hand.
“That piece of information has just made my life so much easier. Thank you.”
It was as if I had won the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. It was the EGOT of codependence. My talking too much had finally been acknowledged by a stranger and it had made a difference. I had been of service but now I could just walk away. I was proud of myself for not asking for their phone numbers or offering to help out with the bill.
Maybe I can do this!!
