How hard is it to "give it up"?

M.E. is the oldest of our three Labs.  For the last twelve years, she has had the same M.O. when it comes to toys and treats.  While the other two Labs chew up a rawhide faster than you can say, "Slow down, you might choke on that", M.E. carries hers around in her mouth.  When the other two finish and she is still marching around with it, it is a bit of torture for L.N. and Rudy, who are probably begging her in Labradorese to "please, please drop it if you don't want it".  And yet....M.E. doesn't just carry the rawhide or this sweet tiger (and the 100 other of Tiger's closest friends who live in the toy basket)----she brings it to us.  Not a night goes by that M.E. doesn't bring her toy over to Dave or myself while we are watching t.v. and hand it over.  She sets it on Dave's lap in some sort of strange Labrador peace offering.  It's as if she is saying, "It is more important for me to give this up to you than it is to hold onto it for my own edification."  

Ah, if only it was so easy for us, as humans.  Okay, I'll speak for myself when I say, "Giving it up is HARD!" I have a firm believe that God (or whomever you choose to call your Higher Power) wants us to turn troubling things over to Him, to admit that we don't have all the answers.  But why is that so hard when M.E. does it without any prompting at all?
Maybe it has something to do with keeping it simple.  M.E. seems to not have 8,000 deep thoughts running through her head, a committee of craziness that tells her to hold onto that toy or she may never get another one.  But that is exactly what we can do if we aren't careful.  Holding onto resentments, troubling situations, crazy ideas, or worry can keep us from seeing the solution.  I know this from experience----handing it over to God or talking about the problem with a trusted friend or spiritual leader can keep the craziness from fermenting.  And yet.....there I am, back to hanging on time and time again.

Just for today, maybe we could take a lesson from the 12-year old Yellow Labrador Retriever who sets the toy or chew in the lap of her master with eyes that trust without exception.   Turn it over and have faith.  

Happy Communicating!!

Shelly