Many people I’ve spoken with lately seem more than eager to kick 2021 out the door.
I’ll admit, 2021 was a challenging year. I’ve said goodbye to loved ones, good friends fell ill, and I’m still having trouble wrapping my head around our new COVID world and its unexpected fallout. How do you move forward when life keeps bearing down a bit harder every year? How do you find hope when things feel hopeless? How do you keep your passion and purpose fueled when it’s hard to stay inspired?
The Miracle Question
When I’m coaching my clients towards their health and wellness goals, I often ask them The Miracle Question; a unique query developed by Insoo Kim Berg and Steve de Shazer. The Miracle Question explores hidden solutions to our problems. It gets us to consider what an alternative future would look like where things are more promising. The Miracle Question is – Suppose tonight, while you slept, a miracle occurred. When you wake up in the morning, what things do you notice that tell you, your life had suddenly gotten better?
This may seem like a simple question; one that may not seem miraculous at all. But I find the miracle isn’t just in the question but in the asking of the question. When our brain hears a question, it focuses on giving us the answer. When I’m struggling with a problem and I ask myself this question, the answer that arrives is not always complete. Sometimes it’s a path of breadcrumbs leading towards a solution or nudging me to a person who can help or to a book or even a song lyric. The knowledge we often seek is buried deep inside of us. To unearth it, we simply have to ask.
Dog as My Doctor
Over the years, I’ve asked myself The Miracle Question several times. On New Year’s Eve, while walking with my dog, Grace, I asked this question again. My answer surprised me.
When I was in my mid-twenties and felt my life needed significant improvements in order to be happy, my answer to The Miracle Question was a long one. My words included dreams of living in a house in the Mediterranean, becoming a New York Times Best-selling author, and making a lot of money. Maybe the New York Times best-selling author dream is still there, but the rest of the picture has changed. The things that improve my life are already here. I’m healthy, married to the love of my life, surrounded by good friends, and being an author who writes about the animal-human bond gives my life meaning and purpose.
In a few days it will be Grace’s birthday, i.e. the day we brought her to live with us in her new forever home. Our daily hikes have not only been paramount to her rehabilitation but being in nature restores me in deep and powerful ways. These treks with my Dog Doctor have led me to observe that a dog’s answer to The Miracle Question is never as complicated as a human’s. Dogs find the greatest joy in the simplest gifts: a safe and happy home, a wonderful walk with their favorite guardian, a chance to play, and in the giving and receiving of love.
If you struggled in 2021 and are looking to change course in 2022 towards a more pawsitive path, consider taking a mindful jaunt in nature with your canine best friend. And along the way, ask yourself The Miracle Question. Like me, you may be surprised by the answers that come from a question simply asked.
Stay Healthy & Stay Pawsitive,
💜 Carlyn MDO
PS: Did you ask yourself The Miracle Question? If so, what one thing do you notice about how your life is better?
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Nicely put. Pawsitively upbeat. I try to walk my pups 5-6 times a week. The exercise is good for all of us. Enjoying an open sky, bird song, and even throwing a quick, “good day”, to folks we pass along the way is cheering, uplifting. I do some of my best reflecting on walks. Past, present, and future. Thanks for the article.
Kaitlyn, I do my best reflection on my walks as well. I come up with ideas for new books, or parts of a story, or answers to a problem I might be wresting with. I’ll never forget that when I was trying to come up with the title of my first book, I was walking my dog Roxy and it hit me like a thunderbolt- Dog as My Doctor! Then I went home and took a nap and my cats jumped on my back and the next idea came to mind – Cat as My Nurse. I think it was a well designed plot on my dog and cat’s behalf don’t you?