Hi Brooke, First of all, I’m so glad Rocky is okay. If it came between saving my cat or husband, it would be a tough call. 😉 Reminds me of the truth of one your podcasts – our basic need to love.

Question 1: do you believe that our fates are somehow pre-progammed/divine intervention/etc? I have been scratching my head (occasionally) for years over your statement, “It was always meant to be this way.”

Are you referring to cause and effect or something else?

Related to you stories about Rocky’s anaphylactic shock event, in one version you mention asking to use Chris’ car that day, having noticed the vet office, the vet being right there, all of which contributed to speedy treatment of Rocky and his recovery. You commented something like, “How could I not believe that the Universe is supporting me.” It works tidily in that case.

Question 2: What about when the outcome is not so happy? From your perspective, is the universe teaching a different lesson? Or more like “shit happens and sometimes it sucks”? Cause and effect?

For example, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law (veterinarian and assistant) were in a rush to get to work and accidentally left their dog in his kennel in their garage and the dog died from the heat. My husband, who was at our cabin down the beach, heard a dog barking but assumed it was a neighbor’s’ dog who was known to get excited about random squirrels, etc. and also assumed that BIL and SIL had taken the dog to work with them, as they “always” did. So he didn’t check on Shady and in-laws didn’t notice that their dog was not with them until after work, when it was too late. I can think of things in a meta-sense that could put a positive spin on this situation, but the immediate outcome was that their beloved dog died. (I realize this ties into an issue I have that when outcomes are what someone wants, it’s called a miracle or God has come through. The same people are notably silent when a two year old – or an innocent dog – dies.)

To digress, my own belief is that “the teacher arrives when the student is ready.” That it is all out there and interest in learning, whether conscious or unconscious, leads to awareness. And sometimes mega-shit happens.

To digress further, I also get a kick out of the flip side, “The student arrives when the teacher is ready.”

Once again, so glad about Rocky. I super-loved your insight that you would be okay whatever happened outside your control. I remember 33 years later the gift that my friend gave me when my mom died, with the words/thought that, “You will be okay.”

Thanks for your thoughts on this. Namaste.