🌼 Two Puppies, Total Chaos & the Goals I Didn't Know They'd Solve
Welcome to this Start Fresh mini from the Om WOW Podcast! Let’s reset our mindset and start the week with clarity and intention.
Listen to the short episode:
Episode #46: Transcript
Very recently I set 2 intentional goals that were manifested in an unexpected way– without willpower, without focused effort, and pretty much by accident! I've been running sooooo low on brain power these last few days, but I’ll do my best to share what happened.
Sitting Too Long is Bad for Your Health
Over the summer I started doing research about the real dangers of sitting too long, which I don’t think has been publicized enough. We’re all probably familiar with the saying “sitting is the new smoking” meaning sitting does just as much damage to the body as smoking, just in a different way.
I’ll be sharing my research in the Spring, and have a guest episode planned for Feb 2026 with an expert to talk about this, but for now, let me share that sitting for more than 20 minutes in a row does incredible damage to your body. In ways you’d never connect with sitting.
So over the summer, I set myself up with a standing desk and sitting options inside, and my husband made me a custom outdoor standing desk according to my exact height and ideal keyboard and screen placement, also based on my research, for the 3 seasons I can work outside in the yard. I started setting a timer for 20 minutes to limit sitting, which worked for a while. Actually it worked really well when I was OUTSIDE, because the standing desk was so comfortable for me to work at.
But once winter started and I was inside most of the day, I've found that I’m now very often ignoring the timer if I'm really into a project and flow state. So lately I’ve been writing in my journal that I’d like to strengthen the habit of sitting less. I’ve also been doing a lot of extra marketing and admin type work for my business and for this podcast, so the other recent goal I’ve written a lot was to spend LESS time looking at the computer screen. Obviously I must use a computer to run the biz and podcast, but some days it felt like I was on it from early morning until bedtime other than for meal breaks and short spurts of household chores.
One “Piranha” on the Attack
Well, last weekend we adopted a 2 month old German shepherd puppy. We’ve had her for 6 days so far and I joke that she’s a full time job. Between chasing her, getting stuff out of her mouth, ya know like TV remotes, pens, rugs, her water dish, AND taking her out to potty every 20-50 minutes, doing laundry from her blankets, mats and towels, feeding her 4 times a day, attempting to protect the furniture and generally keeping her safe– I’m pretty exhausted. Like I don’t even need sleeping pills anymore because I’m so tired when we finally hit the bed at night. Thankfully my hubbie handles any middle of the night potty runs so I don’t have to maneuver around with her and bypass the skunks, possums, and other creatures who visit the yard at night.
After day 2 with her, I found myself REMOVING stuff from my to-do list, knowing I wouldn’t have time to safely open my laptop with my little piranha nearby. Her name is Kali, but I call her “Piranha” when she gets mouthy and biting my hands and pant legs… which is multiple times a day.
Anyway, I don’t think I’ve been able to sit for more than 10-15 minutes in a row, and I’m getting a TON of exercise, carrying my squirmy 15 pound fluffy weight up and down the stairs 15+ times per day, and then walking the yard in the snow. And I’ve barely opened my laptop, because I’m on puppy patrol 24/7. I’m still super busy, but it’s a different kind of busy. Thankfully I prepped way ahead for the podcast, so I have wiggle room with my tasks.
So in a rare moment of stillness, it dawned on me that 2 of my intentions had been met in this very unexpected way. Setting a timer didn’t work consistently for me. But trying to keep a house pee-accident free is sure working! And I realize many of my friends listening don’t have as flexible of a work schedule as I do, and don’t work from home. But for me, Kali has been a double blessing. Filling our house with more love, companionship and snuggles AND helping me honor my goals of less laptop time and less sitting.
And then there were TWO
As I was writing this, we were preparing to meet up with a foster family in an hour to adopt our second new pup, Jasper. He’s an 8 month old unknown mix. And the story of how he came into our life is pretty cool, too. Kali and Jasper were both dumped at shelters at night, discarded by their previous families anonymously. Jasper was actually THROWN over a 6 foot fence, poor baby!
They were transported from high kill shelters in Texas by a Big dog rescue in New Jersey. A team then drove a handful of dogs to CT to be fostered until adoption. Our adoption paperwork was done sight unseen for Kali, and we drove to CT to pick her up. On our way there, the rescue called and asked if we’d mind also picking up Jasper to take him to his temporary foster parents. When we arrived at the meeting place, a coordinator handed Jasper to me and my husband took him to go potty. He was gentle, sweet, and went willingly with my hubbie, a total stranger.
Only ONE dog in the van was yelping, and that was my rambunctious Kali. They opened the crate door and handed her to me, and she was a squirming, fluffball of high energy. I took her for a short walk to potty, but it was a challenge. They told me she had likely never been on a leash.
We put Jasper in the back of the truck, and I put Kali on my lap on a pile of blankets. He stuck his nose and paws through the middle of the front seats and rested on the center console, trying to snuggle up to my husband. No growling, no biting, just pure affection and love.
Kali was wriggling and wrestling with me the whole time. She was trying to bite his face, and tore up both of my hands with bloody pinholes. She was obviously teething and had been taken from her mom too soon, so she didn’t get the natural correction from her mom and siblings to tamper her aggressive biting habit.
We drove both dogs together for about an hour, and in my head, I had already named Jasper, and imagined that he was part of the family. I knew, though, that he likely already had families that had applied to adopt him, and that he was heading to foster care, but he had captured my heart instantly.
We stopped at a gas station and walked both dogs for about 15 minutes while waiting for the foster family to arrive. The 2 were playing together, and Jasper was unbelievably gentle with Kali as she jumped on him, bit him, and was honestly a little brat. And my heart said “Oh my god. He’s part of our family.”
Turns out, several families applied to adopt him, but they all had cats and the rescue wasn’t sure how he’d do with cats. We submitted our interest and they said they thought he’d be perfect with our family, home, and setup, and with Kali as well since their first interactions went so well.
Life is now NUTS
Today as I’m recording this, it’s the FIRST full day with both dogs. Yesterday was NUTS. Jasper is taller, and able to not only get on the couch, but to jump OVER it. Kali’s biting and aggressiveness has started to calm down, but we had the energy of them learning how to get along with each other, so there was a lot of growling, play fighting, and chasing each other around in circles in my livingroom and kitchen. We got 15 minutes of peace last night as they both sat at attention when My hubbie arrived with a pizza for dinner.
Right now, both dogs are sleeping within 4 feet of each other in the sun by my back door. They’ve walked together outside all day, and are starting to learn how to treat each other kindly. I’m so exhausted that I actually fell asleep on the floor earlier today after breaking up dog fights over toys when they each konked out on either side of me.
Even with all the chaos of the last week, this is such an incredible blessing. Parts of this year were so emotionally difficult, and our house felt so empty after our sweet Maddie passed away. It’s been roughly 14 years since I had a puppy, so of course it’s an adjustment.
Adding 2 puppies to my life has been utter chaos. Work. Mess. But so worth it. Oh, and I jokingly told my husband that I bet I’m going to lose 10 pounds from trying to keep up with these pups, without even trying.
If you'd told me a month ago that the way I'd achieve less sitting and screen time would be through sleepless nights, puppy accidents, and total chaos, I probably would have looked for an easier path. But sometimes our goals show up disguised as challenges. What looks like a disruption might actually be exactly what we asked for.
Your Challenge This Week
This week, I challenge you to look at your current goals or intentions. Are there things already happening in your life (even challenging or chaotic things) that might actually be moving you toward what you want? What if the universe is already answering, just not in the way you expected? This is a really good one to think about with your journal in hand.
Have a fabulous week my friends!
If this mini gave you a mindset boost, pass it on! Comment below & let me know— your energy makes a difference.
Meet Our Host: Jennifer Robin O’Keefe
Jennifer Robin is always searching for the next thing that might help: the book, the practice, the reframe you didn't know existed but turns out to be exactly what you needed.
Through conversations with experts, authors, and everyday humans, along with personal reflection, Jennifer focuses on bridging the gap between "woo" and practical, accessible self-support. Her work is rooted in the belief that wellness is not about fixing yourself, but about remembering your worth and finding what genuinely works for you.
She has spent decades exploring personal growth, energy healing, and mind-body wellness. She's trained in EFT Tapping and coaching, tools she often references in her conversations. She's not positioning herself as an expert who has it all figured out. She approaches her work with humility, curiosity, and deep respect for individual experience.
Jennifer is a lifelong learner who cherishes books and notebooks. She loves diving into research and sharing what she learns in a way that feels relatable, compassionate, and pressure-free. These conversations are an invitation: to ask your own questions, gather perspectives that resonate, and build a life that actually feels good to you.