Life Guarantees Challenges

How You Respond Is What Matters

You can’t make it through this life without some challenges. Things won’t always go your way. Unexpected situations will catch you off-guard.

Like yesterday, for me.

I’m currently dogsitting for a friend. I have two sweet, medium-sized dogs, and since we let our chickens roam the yard during the day, I take the dogs on midday walks.

Yesterday, we passed a neighbor’s fence when suddenly their dog started snarling at us from the other side.

Then… somehow… the dog got out.

In a flash, it was on top of the dog I was walking, biting and snarling. I screamed for help, over and over. I tried pulling her away. I tried kicking the dog off. It felt like forever until the owner finally came and pulled their dog off… and then just went back inside.

I hobbled the dogs back home with one shoe on (the other got knocked off in the scuffle), shaking. It had felt like she was going to die in front of me, and I was powerless to stop it.

Thankfully, after checking her over, it seemed the bites hadn’t broken the skin. Just some wet fur and a couple of pink patches. Physically, she was mostly okay.

But emotionally, I felt battered (I think she’s a bit skittish, too).

Even when something doesn’t leave a visible scar, it can leave a deep emotional one. Now, even the idea of taking the dogs out makes me anxious. I had no way to defend us. I didn’t even have my phone because we were just stepping outside, not going on a full walk.

As the kids in my classes say in video game terms: "new fears unlocked."

And it’s true.

But what’s more important is what happens now, after the challenge.

We didn’t choose the situation, but we do get to choose how we react to it. Your reaction to life’s conflicts, shapes how you live moving forward.

This morning, when another neighbor’s dog barked at us through a fence, my whole body tensed up. That fear came rushing back. But I know how to release the emotional energy trapped in moments like these. I have tools that help me move through trauma instead of storing it away for another day.

That’s what I help others do, too.

So many people are carrying emotional scars they don’t even realize are still running the show. Old fear responses. Buried panic. All from unresolved moments just like this one.

This is the work I am so passionate about: helping people release what’s stuck so they can move forward without fear taking the lead.

If you're ready to stop carrying the weight of past challenges and learn how to respond to life with greater calm and clarity, I invite you to book a free clarity call. Let’s talk about what’s holding you back—and how to let it go.

As for me, I’ll be digging in to release myself from this situation and let this new fear go before it ever takes hold.