Dogs Are the Best Teachers

I’ve recently become a dog person. 

My whole life I was a cat person and I really can’t remember a time when I didn’t have a cat. I still have cats - Frank & Felicia - but we also have two Mini Australian Shepherds named Jack and Jill. Alliteration is pretty important in our household. 

There’s nothing like being a dog owner. Cats are great, and the fact that they’re so independent is part of why they’re great. But dogs…I’m not even sure I can put it into words. Your dog truly believes that the sun rises and sets with you. My cats like me, but I’m not sure it goes that deep. 

They’ve become our kids

Anyway, the reason I’m mentioning this is because our dogs are like our children to us. Each morning, they get to go to work with my husband for a bit. Almost every morning after he leaves with them, I have a moment of stress when I picture him rushing back into the house with tears in his eyes, telling me that one of them has been run over. 

I know there’s a pretty good chance that we’re going to outlive our dogs. It makes me tear up just thinking about when that time comes. But I also know that if I fixate on all the bad that could happen to them, I’m going to miss all the great times that are happening right now. 

I read something once that said you can’t prepare yourself for bad things that might happen. Thinking about a possible tragedy does not help you get over it quicker. It just means that you get to live through it more than once, and who wants to do that? 

Negative Nellie or Wemberly Worried

I’m sure everyone has a Negative Nellie in their life. She or he is that person who can’t possibly see the positives in any situation. They only see the downside. If it’s raining, it’s ruined their day outside. They don’t even see that it also means they don’t have to turn on the sprinkler that day. If they’re going on a trip, they’re just sure their motel is going to be awful. They don’t recognize that they are actually going on a vacation to a new place with tons of possibilities for fun. 

Worry is a useless emotion. Worrying about something will do nothing but cause you stress, and stress can be one of the reasons you get sick. I’m not a doctor, but I can look back and see that the majority of times I’ve been sick, I’ve also let myself worry about something unnecessarily.  

But it’s hard not to worry, I know. If you allow yourself to worry a little bit, that worry soon multiplies, and then you’re worrying about everything. Good and bad things are going to happen to you, but it makes no sense to worry about it. 

I’ve been a victim of worrying in the past, and I’ve found a couple things have helped greatly. The one I recommend most is keeping a gratitude journal. Find a journal you like, or even just an old notebook, and every single day, think of at least three things you’re grateful for and the reason why. Write them down. Try to come up with different things every day. It can take as long or as little time as you decide. 

After doing this for a while, you’ll start noticing things you’re grateful for without a lot of effort. You can write about small things or big things. Maybe you’re happy that you found time to take a walk today and got to enjoy the outdoors, or maybe you’re grateful that there are no major fires right now and the air you’re breathing is clear and great-smelling, or maybe you’re thankful that you’ve been able to save a few dollars each paycheck because you’re pretty sure you’re going to need to buy a new car sometime this year. 

The other thing I’ve found that gets me out of the Negative Nellie mode is finding a place by myself, taking three or four deep breaths, and thinking, what if it all works out? What if I stop worrying? My shoulders might relax away from my ears, for one thing. My jaw might also unclench. I might even feel hope. 

Worry is useless. Stop inviting trouble into your life. The more you focus on what could go wrong, the more likely it will. Instead, try thinking about what might go right. Everything might work out, and one good thing might just lead to another. 

I have a small chalkboard next to my bed. I’ve written the sentence, “I’m ready for today’s magic!” The crazy thing about starting each of my days with that simple sentence is that by the time I see the chalkboard that night, I can think of several magical things that happened that day. 

Elsa has it right

Let it go. Live the best life you possibly can, and start paying attention to all the good you have around you. It’s probably the best thing I’ve learned from Jack and Jill, that every single day is just filled with all the best things.