Puppy Eyes

The colors in the skies of our life change like the calm before a tornado... Maybe a little pink, and some orange, a slight breeze, pretty enough to make us dig out a camera and take a picture. We chuckle and admire it all, and look up in time to see the rain and lighting roll in. I’m forever the one who ends up in the middle of the storm, getting drenched whether I like it or not, typically without a jacket.

I’m not trying to be philosophical, nor write some sort of self help article, but life is all a matter of perspective. The cards that I was dealt are a losing hand, but I will trade them in one by one until I make them work for me. The human perspective is twisted and subjective. We judge and jump to conclusions, condemning people and ideas to the ever-growing boxes in our minds where we stuff our prejudices. Most of the assumptions we make are later proven to be false and the people we have locked away as rejects are actually those who show us what kind of person we really are.

I curl up with my sweet puppy at night, close my eyes and remember all the beauty in life. My dog licks my face and smiles in her wet doggy smile, doing her best to understand why I am sad. Smiling back, I smile with my mouth and make my heart follow suit.

She reminds me every day to love, forgive, and most of all to live.

Someone once said “The average dog is a nicer person than the average person”. Some people also believe that the only good thing you get out of a bad relationship is learning what you do and don’t want in the next relationship. That is not entirely true... I got a learning experience AND a little rambunctious 5 pound ball of fur that I should have named “The Keeper of My Sanity”.

The bond between a human and a dog is never fully understood until it is experienced personally. Unconditional love and a trusting companion - a listener who will never agree or disagree with you, with the exception of an occasional bark or nudge of a cold nose for input. My dog is a wild child, as I call her, who loves life and lives every day to its fullest. Our level of communication and understanding is almost scary. It is something I cannot explain and only those who observe it can marvel at the kind of bond we have developed.

With no fear of lightning and thunder, my dog will gladly go outside in the rain, dragging her frisbee or soccer ball. She has taught me to embrace the storm. Why not play in it too?

To those of you who have dogs, cheers. Here's to having an irreplaceable four legged friend. To those of you who are missing out, if you have the privilege of getting a puppy in the future, be gentle and love it with your whole heart and it will be the best decision you ever made.