“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”

Henry David Thoreau

A shot of adrenaline kicks you in the side and increases your heart rate ten fold. The sheer intensity of the moment freezes in your mind as you try to make out what just happened. The unexpected. An outcome you were not looking for but it found you. A fright to the core of your soul with an unavoidable chill. It’s form a mystery as you sit in awe and piece the unpiece-able puzzle back together. Why did this happen? How did this happen? Why me?

How do we sort out this situation whether it be a car accident, a dog attacking you, or even someone saying something you were not expecting? You have to first take the thought of, “it wasn’t my fault” and ingrain this into your head. It was not your fault. It is not your fault. It will never be your fault. These are the phrases to bring you back to reality and without you will be lost in a daze of confusion and depression. A mere accident is exactly that, an accident. You can replay the situation as many times as you want but the outcome is not going to change, you’re not able to re imagine true facts and events. To dwell though is where the danger lies. To sit in the corners of your mind and worm throughout the brain trying to extrapolate false information is where we destroy ourselves. Acceptance is the only step which should be taken forward. ‘

I have recently had an unexpected thing happen which left my heart beating atrociously. I walk dogs on this app called WAG!. While I was sitting at home i got this notification for a walk too good to pass up. I hit the request button and soon I was to be off on this 30 minute adventure with a new dog I would be able to love on and have fun with. As I got in my car i put in the GPS and it was 1 mile away. I should have known this was a bad idea when even the GPS told me it was a 25 minute drive for 1 mile. I didn’t listen and proceeded to the apartment which only actually ended up taking 5 minutes. I couldn’t find the apartment so I just parked and started walking around looking for building number one. Ten minutes later of drifting through the valley-esque parking lot I stumbled upon building number one. I make my way to the front door where I proceeded to try and get the key out of the lock box. Another ten minutes of fiddling I am able to finally get the key out of the lock box which would not open and BAM the key doesn’t work on the door. Meanwhile in the background I hear what is a ferocious animal on the other side snarling and growling but I chalk it up to they are confused why someone is messing with their door. I work this key around in the key hole for 5 minutes shaking and jiggling it to no avail when I message the owner of the apartment. “Hey, I am here trying to open your door but it just won’t open.” Click… the door opens at the same time I hit send. “Sorry I told the landlord to fix my lock but they haven’t come by yet.” I enter this space to be greeted by an animal about knee high just staring me down with intent to kill. I proceeded to walk in and try to make it comfortable because I am a stranger after all but this dog was not responding to anything like treats or noises. I stick my hand out for her to sniff me and she jolts forward with her teeth and I quickly pull back and fall to the ground but stay calm and think, “Okay let me message the owner and see.” I messaged the owner, “Your dog is not having it and maybe does not want me to walk her and she has tried to attack me multiple times.” His response quickly followed, “I have no idea why she is like this she has never been like this before.” Most people see their animals much like their kids… the best things in the world, but the truth is sometimes further away from this idea. I then decided to call this off as I couldn’t even get near the dog with her leash and collar as she was in attack mode. I slowly keep my back to the wall and try to make it out but she is blocking the exit as if I was a burglar and she was going to kill. I took a snack and threw it off to the side and as soon as her attention left I made my way swiftly out the door as she saw me and jumped at me and chased me out. I shut the door and hear claws ripping away at it. This moment truly unexpected and frightening but it was not my fault. It was never my fault and no matter how I think it will never be my fault.

The take away is even though after this situation my heart was pounding and as I was assessing all the things I could have done differently it didn’t matter because it was predestined to happen this way. We cannot change our past or even predict our future but what we can do is make sure the outcome doesn’t mess up our heads any further than what happened. We are always in control of our thoughts and should understand we are all unique and all encounter things in our own way, but we can all be the same when it comes to not letting the unexpected destroy us.