There I was begrudgingly raking the leaves in my back yard thinking about how twisted my thinking is sometimes. You see, I was thinking about the reasoning I was using for getting another job for some extra income. It had nothing to do with paying the mortgage or my bills. I wanted to have enough money to afford to get and care for another dog.
In June of 2016, I lost the best dog ever. His name was Blu and he really was the light of my life. I always said he kept me on the straight and narrow which is no easy task.
So there I was doing all of this thinking and raking and the rake hit something which I was certain would be a rock because my landscaping is peppered with them. And there it was. Blu’s old tennis ball. Now mind you this was no ordinary tennis ball. This is the tennis ball I had been critiqued for keeping for 8 years because Blu couldn’t play with it anyway.
Blu had a number of health issues which were supposed to restrict his life span to 6 years old tops. At the age of 5, we added carpal hyperextension to his laundry list of problems and I was told to no longer let him run. And so the tennis ball was never used again. I left the tennis ball there because quite frankly I just couldn’t handle the thought of letting it go. It was a symbol of better times…and it was his. To the best of my knowledge, this dog only had one more year left because either the Lupus or Spondylosis would surely get him. Little did I know he would also get cancer more than once.
Blu ended up sticking around until a couple months before his 13th birthday.
As I looked at that tennis ball, I knew it was no coincidence. He was once again looking over me. It was one of those weeks that entrepreneurs know all too well. One of those weeks where you work 13+ hours a day and feel like you’re making no traction whatsoever. One of those weeks where you are within 1/8 of an inch of giving up. I started in with the ugly cry. Crying and raking hoping the neighbors wouldn’t come out and call someone to take me away.
I believe in signs and I believe in our people and our pets looking over us when we are gone. And he was there reminding me of these things:
1. Hold on to what is important to you.
If something matters to you, hold on to it. Don’t worry about what others think. It has relevance. It will lift you up when you need lifting.
If your business lights you up, embrace it. Take note of the great days and focus less on the days that leave you in the fetal position or exhausted on the couch with a full bottle of wine.
“Take note of the great days and focus less on the days that leave you in the fetal position or exhausted on the couch with a full bottle of wine.”
2. Never give up and just keep going.
Blu was a fighter. He lived 7 years beyond his life expectancy while dealing with both types of Lupus, Spondylosis, Hyperextension, Cancer, Arthritis, and fatty tumors everywhere. He would have days where I could see on his face that was struggling but he would prevail. Struggle forgotten.
If you love your business, fight for it. Take action every single day, make offers every single day, get visible every single day, and provide value every single day. Treat it like the love of your life because it is.
3. Right now it feels yucky and it hurts but tomorrow will be a better day.
Blu always had a way of rebounding after having a bad day. I would think it was time and then the next day he was acting like a pup.
If you do the work and the due diligence for your business and you do the mindset work necessary to keep your head in the game, you will have better days. Do your affirmations, have a plan, and visualize the greatness ahead of you. It will give you the energy and sustenance to keep going.
Your business is forever evolving. It’s always going to be that way. Things will change and you will change course to roll with it. It will be easy some days and incredibly rough on others. Just remember that you were meant to be on the tracks, not off of them.
“Just remember that you were meant to be on the tracks, not off of them.”
If you are a female entrepreneur struggling with your online business, check out my website at https://suzpro.com and see if working together might be just what you need to get unstuck.
And if you want to be part of a group of amazing female entrepreneurs who can help lift you up on the days when all seems lost, request access to my Facebook Group at http://fempreneurs.biz.
You may be wondering what happened to the tennis ball. I put that old tennis ball back. When things get rough and I need a reminder of what I’m made of, it will be there, just like Blu was.