Cycles -- We WILL Come Full Circle!

In case you're wondering (based on the title), today's entry is not about two-wheeled vehicles, estrus cycles, labor and delivery cycles, or anything even remotely mechanical, biological, scientific or distinctly canine.

As I've been watching Elsie develop these last weeks, I've been thinking about the cycles we humans walk through. It seems that no season of life really lasts; we're constantly in flux, our situational cycles ever changing.

And that's a good thing. Because if that's true (and it is), we can rest assured that if things are crummy now, they will eventually become good again.

It's just the way of it.

Thinking about this past year (Regular Reader knows we've experienced some big, ugly things since last October, like my BIL dumping my twin sister out of the blue after 28 years together and 24 years of stable-if-not-happy marriage, as well as some huge, wonderful things, like DD's wedding and marriage, DSs college transitions, and adding Pinot and Tuc to our gang), I'm beginning to see patterns to these things.

Think about it.

We start with normalcy (whatever the norm is to begin with). Then comes The Thing (an announcement, event, diagnosis, conversation, addition, loss, etc.) -- whatever it is that rattles or changes our worlds.

If The Thing is "bad" (as in my BIL announcing he no longer loved my DS and didn't want to work on the marriage), we wade through a parade of emotions: shock, disbelief, confusion, discomfort, sometimes guilt or second-guessing, pain, fear, anger, grief, concern, acceptance (of the new norm), strategizing, relief, freedom (from a bunch of the earlier stuff), and finally joy (or a quiet sense that it is well with our souls despite The Thing).

If The Thing is "good" (as in DD's marriage), we experience a slightly different parade: excitement or delight at first, then discomfort (when reality hits), pain (over the change), acceptance of the new norm, relief, freedom, and then finally, once again, joy.

But in both cases, we come full circle; we return to steady life and joy.

As I've watched this latest canine pregnancy develop, it's almost as if Elsie's pregnancy provides a mini-version my world. She offers a window into my life's cycles as I walk through change.

Here she is in her full-fledged discomfort (as of yesterday):



Bless her heart.

And here she is with DH, just for a size comparison. :o)


She's still growing! ;o)

Dear Sweet Elsie Girl is well past that initial hormonal surge of energy and is now well into her discomfort phase. Yes, she still has even more discomfort and some downright pain to go through, but she will eventually arrive at acceptance of the new (good) norm, followed by relief, freedom, and joy.

And, as it goes, so will we. DSS and I (and our families) will eventually arrive at a new norm where our hearts can rest. Life won't always be this painful and confusing; it will be good again.

All that is to say, "Hang on Elsie (and DSS)! You may be uncomfortable now, and you will have more pain to walk through still, but you will eventually find relief and joy. Hang in there. Your relief is just around the bend."

No sense quitting five minutes before our miracle, eh?

'Til next time,
Joan