I suspect the reason why so many of us love dogs is that they always seem to wear rose colored glasses when it comes to their human companions. I have a friend with an adorable King Charles Spaniel and that dog wriggles in ecstasy whenever she comes into the room. He can always shift her mood with his consistent presentation of pure adoration. I once tried that with my family. I thought, hey, let’s see what happens if I imitate the attitude of a dog – that is if I look happy to see them.
I found out that being like a dog is not easy. For one thing, a dog does not wrestle with a crashed computer twenty minutes before a deadline. Nor does a dog have to get dinner on the table before the soccer game. So there are all kinds of things distracting me as a human, which my dog doesn’t have. I have to really make a mental effort to put the computer down, look at the beloved face, and remember in that moment how grateful I feel to have that person in my life.
The rewards are great whenever I choose to pay attention, my enthusiasm would often get mirrored into their enthusiasm, plus gratefulness tends to make me feel, well, grateful to be alive and to have loved ones in my life – which remembering makes me feel really happy.
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