A story you probably won’t read.

Whenever I think I’ve gotta do it all myself, I remember this story.?

Because no matter how much we think we’re in control… are we?

Time for a story you probably won’t read.?

We moved to Colorado in the spring of 2022.?

We’d been living in our van and in Airbnb’s for a couple years as we traveled the country. There’s so much to see, and we didn’t know if we’d ever settle down.?

But something about Boulder, CO hooked us in and we never left.?

Here’s something I hadn’t felt before…?

As we drove over I-70 through the Rocky Mountains towards Denver, my heart physically felt like it was singing. A strong resonance vibrated through my chest.?

When we spent some time hiking in the mountains near Boulder, I felt it again. So on a whim we signed a 1-yr lease on an apartment, bought a mattress, and grabbed some furniture from the local Goodwill.

Then it was like magic started to happen…?

I said “I want a black bookshelf to put a TV on” and then someone on our street put out the exact bookshelf that I saw in my mind for free.?

I said “I really could use a bike” and another house on the street had a bike out front for free. It fit my size perfectly (I’m tall so I needed a taller frame size than normal.)

I said “I want to pay off my debt” and somehow I (almost) accidentally had my first $20k month ever. And (almost) accidentally started my business because people were lining up to pay me for my mindset coaching. We paid off the debt in full that month!

Now the thing about Colorado… Everyone has a dog. everyone. If you don’t, you’re weird. We were the weird ones without a dog.?

I didn’t mind being the weird ones. But one day I got the “ping” that felt like it came from God.?

“Get a dog.”

But I’d seen other people with dogs that weren’t great for them. I didn’t want to get just any dog.

So we looked at hundreds of dogs online, read tons of articles about personality traits and breed pros and cons.?

We made our list of WHAT we wanted. I wanted a husky mix. A boy. And we found a husky mix named Billy who’d be at an adoption even that Saturday.

Everything in me said “that is my dog! I can feel it!”

Every day prior to the event, we‘d check the website again to make sure nobody swooped in and adopted him first. Every day he’s still on petfinder.com waiting for us to come get him!?

Finally it’s Saturday. Adoption day. Today is the day we expand our family.

Drive an hour to get to the event. Arrive a full hour early so we’d be first in line. Excitedly wait to talk to anyone about Billy.?

That’s when it got weird…?

There was another family who’d arrived before us. Really, someone else would get here a full hour early?

We talked, they weren’t trying to get Billy. We’re in the clear.

But when we finally talked to the event coordinator, she said Billy already got adopted. WHAT THE ACTUAL F*CK.?

Billy’s foster family needed someone to watch him for just one night. The night before the event.?

And they adopted him.?

I could’ve hit those foster-failing parents I was so angry and sad and frustrated and confused. Everything in me, every sign and signal, was wrong? Nothing had gone wrong since we moved to Boulder! Why would it start now?

I took some deep “don’t flip the table” breaths. There's a lot of other dogs at the event, why don’t we just meet some of them. Maybe we’ll at least enjoy petting some puppies before we go home as a family of 2 again.?

Played with one dog. He was nice, but too intense. Another dog, too old, I wanted a puppy (sue me, they’re too cute to miss the puppy phase!).?

5 dogs later, we were ready to give up.?

We did have one puppy in mind who was kind of our “backup plan.” But the moment we asked to see him...

“He’s not up for adoption today. He’s got a scratch on his nose and we never release any dogs with a physical problem like this before it’s healed.”

Really? The only two dogs that we even considered were off the table?

But then it happened.?

We decided to meet just one more of these puppies before leaving.

The instant they set this puppy in the area with us, we all started to bawl our eyes out.?

I’m a grown man sobbing in public over a puppy. And my wife too. And I swear the puppy was crying too.?

There was no logic to it. It was a pure instantaneous spontaneous cry-fest.?

So I wiped some tears and said “I guess this is our dog.” Then cried on the paperwork when they finally got me to let go of the puppy.?

Here’s a screenshot of what I said I wanted:?

(I know it says “doesn’t need to be a husky” but that was begrudging lol).?

We never got “what” we wanted.?

But the Universe knew better. It used Billy as bait to bring us to our girl Arwen.?

We got to meet Billy before we left the event… he was SO LOUD. He was a menace. He was intense. In short, he was NOT our dog.?

On the other hand, our baby Arwen fits this list to a T.?

She’s amazing. Literally perfect. More perfect than I could’ve wished for. She’s curled up on the couch with me right now as I write this. Still filling my heart over the brim.

So the most important takeaway from this story for you…

You should get clear on what you want. And why you want it.?

And you should take massive action to get what you want.?

But the Universe or God or whatever you believe in… they know what you need better than you do.?

So surrender.

1960s philosophers The Rolling Stones said, “You can’t always get what you want, but you get what you need.”

Rusty