We've all heard the saying, "Having your own business is like having a child." I have to admit, until recently, I couldn't really relate with this - primarily because I didn't have either. Today though, I do have my own business. And while I still don't actually have a child, Alex and I did bring home a German Shepard puppy in May 2019 not long after we bought our house. Often seen posing for pictures as Anchor Watch's Employee of the Month, Lyra has been a great addition on all fronts.
Now, obviously I know that a dog and a child are not the same thing. But I think we can all agree that puppies are a lot of work. And if you have ever met a German Shepard, you know they're vocal, dramatic, protective and wonderful. Lyra is no exception, and we are obsessed with her.
Yesterday, Lyra went in to be spayed. This, by all means, was a very routine procedure. However, make no mistake, though Lyra shares none of our DNA, there is zero doubt that anxious worrying is genetic in this house. Handing our dog over to the nice nurse in the vet parking lot left me a little choked up. And yes, I am aware I am ridiculous. But I felt the lack of control deeply. She was entirely in someone else's hands, and I couldn't control what happened to her. My best friend, entirely unsure of what was going on, being sent into the unknown.
Her procedure went just fine. The doctor called us when she woke up, and we came to pick her up a few hours later. We brought her home where she was more than ready to curl up in her own bed. We doted on her and told her everything was going to be fine, more so for ourselves than her. She is a dog after all.
By bedtime, she was over it all. The sedatives were starting to wear off a bit. She thought the cone was bullshit and didn't want to sleep in it anymore. We began to argue about the best way to deal with her. Should we give her more meds? Put her to bed in her crate? Take her outside for some air? What's the right choice to ensure everything goes perfectly for her? At 11:45 at night we were frantically carrying her downstairs and outside to go potty. She did all the sniffs, went #2, and then.... stepped right into her own mess.
I was at my wits end. She'd stepped in her own dog shit, she was sick of the cone, and she was loopy on sedatives. And yet... she was perfectly fine. And as I stood there, watching my dog in her cone of shame act totally unaffected... I finally got it. It took a situation involving neither business nor a child for me to finally get the saying.
Owning a business really IS like having a child. It's something you create, develop and help grow. But it exists outside you, and you can only control it so much. And while that level of investment may make you feel like the world is ending when something goes wrong... it's not always that serious. You can't predict everything that will happen to them. You can't always keep them safe. You certainly can't expect perfection! Just like you, they go through bumps and growing pains. Sometimes we all step in shit. But you know what? We all come out ok.
