Being Adaptable

Night Two of 10+10+9 and Me offered insight about what will be different now that the Night Shift is off on a walkabout/camping adventure: Sleep.

Not more — definitely less.

What is there more of? Laundry.

I have accepted these things: 1) I will never be caught up with laundry; and, 2) it is okay if laundry is not folded. After all, we just unfold it anyway.

Raising a litter well forces me to accept things I normally would find unacceptable.

It is not unlike what we should all do in a pandemic — given the increased demands of Pandemic Life, what unacceptable things must we now accept in order to stay afloat?

Looking at a situation realistically, and changing our expectations so we can be okay in a new reality, is being adaptable — an important adulting skill.

Puppies require adaptable humans. People who like things “just so” are not great homes for puppies — or humans, for that matter. A puppy — like Life — is messy.

We all do better when we adapt rather than try to make a puppy, a human, or Life change to meet our needs. Only puppies and small humans get to be that egocentric.

And kittens — they can be egocentric as well.

And so I sleep less, fold less laundry, and put up with a house that appears to have been ransacked.

I prioritize my own mental/physical health, my job, and the 10+10+9 — not necessarily always in that order but those are the balls I (mostly) keep in the air. I try hard not to stress about the dropped balls — they can be picked up later. Or chewed on.

Something as big and demanding as a pandemic — or as small and demanding as a puppy — cannot just be plunked into the middle of our lives with the expectation that all will proceed as normal. That is magical thinking.

And so to those awaiting Moonshadows and Bright Stars — get ready to be especially adaptable.

Explore what can be dialed back in order to create space for the needs of a puppy. I assure you — those needs will not always be congruent with your own.