I had to call 911...
I was sitting in my dining room drinking a cup of coffee and brainstorming ideas on what to write about for this email.
It was around 10 AM.
Chica barked, and I looked up and noticed a guy running through my front yard to the side of my house and through my gate.
Impressively my instincts kicked in, and I sprinted (well, my version of a sprint) to the back of the house and locked the door.
I looked into the kitchen and could see him standing there, peeking around the corner.
My heart was pounding.
I ran back up front grab my phone and called 911 for the first time in my life.
They answered quickly, and I told them what was going on. I could barely speak. I was so frightened.
And let me tell you, my brain takes a hard left in times like this, and I cannot be held responsible for my actions. Lol
I'm not the person you want next to you during an emergency, I promise.
They asked if he was still in my yard, and I told them I was pretty sure he was, but I was too nervous to look. They told me not to go out there.
I asked if I should send my dog out there to find out. 🤦♀️ (told you, I can't be held responsible.)
It was a clear nope.
[Sorry, Chica, you started pulling away from me first.]
They told me to stay somewhere safe and wait.
So I did.
I canceled a call I had scheduled with one of my clients.
And I waited.
He wasn't trying to break in, but I kept running through scenarios of what I would do if he did.
Where could I hide? Would he be scared of Chica?
It took the police about 30 minutes to get here.
A loonngg 30 minutes, I can't imagine how insane that would have been if they guy would've tried to get in while I waited.
They came in, looked around, and he was gone.
I can't even remember the last time I felt scared. Like a physical need to protect myself fear. Crazy.
The funny thing is that during my 30 minutes of imagining the worst-case scenario, not once did my mind give me the idea of walking out my front door and going to the neighbor's house.
Or getting in my car and leaving.
One thing is clear.
I need to have a better game plan on how to protect myself.
And I need to come up with that plan when I'm not in panic mode because clearly, my brain skips over the most logical next steps in the heat of the moment. As they often do.
My little pudding belly Chica is pictured above.
Machele Galloway is a Certified Life Coach through The Life Coach School. She's based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and specializes in helping her clients manage their time and their minds. She firmly believes that you can't manage one without managing the other. She virtually coaches women nationwide. If she isn't coaching clients, she is studying concepts and techniques. And if she isn't doing that, she's probably playing with a dog or watching the Real Housewives of some city. - “Life is short. Play a little.”
