What I have learned from our dogs this season

It is highly likely that this blog will resonate with many of you; at least I hope it does. Many of us have spent Thanksgiving, Christmas (insert your own religious holiday here), and/or New Year's Eve with some semblance of family members. I have always said that it can be easier to be kind and forgiving toward total strangers than it can with our own nuclear family members. I guess that isn't such a crazy concept, is it? We may only see that stranger in need once in a lifetime, while we play our assigned and pre-determined roles within our families with just a touch of a button (that someone wittingly or unwittingly pushes, right?).  Throughout these last couple of months, I have noticed that even though our two Labs (Kirby and L.C.) live with us and are considered immediate family, they don't necessarily have that lack of patience that we, as humans, have with one another.  I suppose they somehow know on which side their bread is buttered, but I also believe they lead a simpler life and take life at face value. There aren't the complications that we humans bring into the mix, even if/when we do it inadvertently. Here goes:

1. Be quick to forgive- Even when we leave our pups for the day, their tails are wagging like crazy when we open the door to come in the house. There is no resentment against us for leaving them, only excitement that we are home, now. To be so forgiving with other humans? I wish I could say I am, but I simply am not. I have a tendency to perseverate on the negative, sometimes (not often, but it does occasionally happen) instead of flipping it around to "count it all joy" that I have been supremely blessed with the best husband in the world (I hope you will be "quick to forgive" as I make that blanket statement, but Dave truly is the best), work that fulfills my heart and soul, and a life that is incomparable to any fairy tale world I could have dreamed up when I was a little girl. Our dogs are like that all the time! Move them in the middle of the night when they have consumed 3/4 of the bed? They simply readjust and move on.  Accidentally almost cut L.C. in half with my reclining chair on the couch? (I wish I could say I'm kidding about that, but truly...) She simply moves out from underneath me, crawls up on the couch and is looking forward to the next kiss on her liver-nose.  No malice.....no resentments.....just love and forgiveness.
2. Take naps whenever possible - Just scroll right past this part if you have not experienced this luxury/need yet.  Trust me on this one.....you will appreciate it when you get older. Our pups are masters of the "we just went for our morning 'chase the deer' session, so it is now time for a nap" syndrome.  After that event occurs, I'm typically off to the races....grading graduate students' papers, getting ready for work the next week, wrapping presents, et cetera, et cetera.  I end up over-doing almost everything I do, and then my body revolts and I wind up with bronchitis or pneumonia or....whatever (you get the picture).  Both of our dogs are SO comfortable in the nap-taking phenomenon, they sometimes turn upside down with their girl or boy parts open to the general public, and they don't care. I'm not suggesting we should all adopt the "bits to the breeze" position, but wow! it must be nice to be that carefree, foot loose and fancy free at all times. I'm worried about being able to make it on time to my connecting flight after being delayed to take off for a few minutes, and these dogs are sleeping upside down with their nether-regions pointed toward Heaven.  If I could stay still long enough to actually do that, I might try it out someday. 
3. Show gratitude for those who care for you- I feel like we have commercialized the holiday season (Christmas, for sure) that we sometimes get hung up on the "They didn't buy us a gift; we don't need to buy them one" type of mentality, we can totally miss the true message of family and friends together-ness. L.C. and Kirby are thankful for the burnt piece of a homemade bun I fed them the other night at the same time I am lamenting "Oh no! What will people think if they get a bun that baked a little too long?" Good grief! Some of the simplest gestures I have ever received were sincere thank you notes for a small gift I gave.  No gesture should be considered too great or too small----it was literally that----a gesture on the gift-giver's part. It shouldn't come with strings attached. It shouldn't be compared to a bigger gift. It shouldn't be taken for granted. How often do we get caught up in the commercialization of it all, we forget the true meaning of what we are doing and how much we love the people for whom we are doing it?

On that note, I may have to concede that these two Labs might, indeed, take dinner time for granted and pretty seriously, so I better get moving or there will be a staring contest (which one of them will outlast the other one in the stare-off?) until they are fed. 

Season's greetings to all, and thanks for reading my posts in 2023! 
May your days be merry and bright!
Happy Communicating!
​Shelly

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