Back from the Lake: The Joy of Design

It was so good to get away.

As I think about it, though, it wasn't the "getting away" that did my soul good: it was being and doing that for which I'm best suited.

Kinda like the canine crew.  Take Chessie, for example.

This was Chessie's first visit to the cottage, and her first exposure to entering the water from a dock.  After only a day at the lake (well, more like only after a jump or two), it became obvious to us that Chessie is designed to leap: she's a born dock-jumper.

Take a look:

Yup, that's puppy Chessie!  And this is Chessie's first time even seeing a dock, let alone jumping from one. To boot, it's only her second time swimming in deep water. At just a year old, she's still a clutzy adolescent, but you'd never know it when she takes flight. 

With Kenya and Ridge for her parents, we knew she'd love the water and have no fear of jumping, but I never imagined she'd take to it so quickly and so strongly (she easily doubles Kenya's jumping distances).

And her joy.... oh my!  

All of the dogs thrive at the lake.  It's part of their natures. Each blossoms there in ways unique to their characters (more on that in another post).

And the funny thing is, I do, too.

For good or bad, I'm a country girl. Being in the woods, lifting my face to the rain, allowing the sun to warm my face or the breeze to tickle my nose, listening to the wind whisper or the rain thunder on our tin roof, enjoying the water (pond, lake, river, stream, in, by, or on -- doesn't matter) -- it all makes me feel whole and alive. It's how I was raised; it's part of my nature and history; it's who I am every bit as much as my blue eyes, round countenance, and now-graying blonde hair.

I'm finally discovering how I'm wired and realizing I don't need to apologize for being who I'm designed to be.

When Chessie met the dock last week, it seemed she finally found out who she's designed to be, too.

It warmed my heart to see her find her niche, especially so young.  After fifty-plus years, I'm only just finding mine.

Oh, but when we find it, we know, as does everyone around us! Chessie sure knew it; it's the joy of our design.

Now the question becomes: how do we allow her to pursue her niche and reach her potential? 

Any of our dock-jumping readers out there have any ideas? We'd welcome your input.


In the meantime, we'll just keep doing what we're doing and hoping to taste more joy along the way.

'til next time,
Joan