Full Speed Ahead
What I have learned from my rescued puppy
Mercury will be one year old on July 1st. She lives life in fast forward. Walking is never an option. Even if she needs to move a mere few inches, she runs. She is the absolute picture of “go get ’em.”
Mercury came from a sketchy background. She was just a little puppy when I saw her picture on Petfinder. Her beautiful coloring and adorable face immediately caught my attention. Without any second thoughts, I knew she was the puppy I had been searching for day after day. I have no idea what she experienced before animal services picked up Mercury and her siblings.
What I do know is that when I paid the $125.00 adoption fee, I took her from a shelter where they were understaffed and overworked. The puppies were all caked in feces and urine. My hand stuck to her fur when I attempted to pet her for the first time.
Unlike my older rescue, Morgan, who suffers intense fears from being to the depths of hell itself by the hands of his former owners, Mercury is fearless. She wants to explore everything. Chase anything. Climb trees. (Yes, you read that right.) Wrestle other dogs. Snuggle her mom. And, above all else, protect her pack. She is the Alpha Bitch. (We have struggles over this one.) And she is the adoring daughter.
Every single morning Mercury can be seen patrolling the perimeters of the backyard with a carefully selected stuffy in her mouth. Self-proclaimed protector of her pack and property. No mailman will go unnoticed. No bunny free to roam her grounds. She is Mercury, Warrior Princess of NC!
Although I often times find her fearless independence trying, I also have learned much from my beautiful warrior. She has opened my eyes to examining my own fears.
Do any of my fears actually serve me or do they hold me back?
This is something that I feel so deeply. And believe so many can relate to in their daily lives. Especially with general anxiety seemingly on the rise.
What I have discovered so far is that the answer is yes and no. Mostly yes to many of the fears I experience. For example, my fear of not being smart enough kept me from pursuing a doctorate. On the other hand, my fear of trying new products without thoroughly reading labels has kept me from potential horrible reactions.
Yes, I am that whacky person reading every label in the grocery aisle.
I do have one regret about this adoption.
I forgot to inquire about the mother dog. The cute little puppies are often times all adopted while the mother ends up being slaughtered in the name of space for another lost soul whose days are numbered. I would have gladly taken both. But my excitement over a beautiful puppy was foremost in my mind.
Why “rescue” animals if you plan to kill them? That’s not rescue. However, this is a topic best served on its own. Deserving of its own space, title, and debate.
Back to my warrior and her wonders. There are days that I growl in frustration from saying, “Don’t eat that!” or, “Stop jumping on your brother,” for the millionth time. Then there are days that I just stare at her in action, wishing I could be that fearless.
Still, I am brought back to the question of: is fearless truly the best way to live? Or is there a happy medium between fear and fearlessness? I believe the answer is caution.
Find a balance where we can live freely, using common sense and knowledge to fight back fear and anxiety. So, in short, to live a life somewhere between my world of unjustified fears and Mercury’s world of non-stop fearlessness.
Or maybe, much like Mercury, we just all need that one magical stuffy that seems to give Mercury her fearless powers.
We may never know the answer to this one.
