Dog comes through in the clinch – again!

As I was sitting on the porch, admiring my cup of coffee (hey, everybody is good at something!), I became fascinated by my dog, Ziggy. Yes, this is the brain power of my mornings.

I was reminded of a few things this morning as ZigDog tried to get his kibble out of the Buddy Ball feeder.

1. Get the low hanging fruit (er, kibble)
If what you want is laying right in front of you, just grab it! No excuses of “that was too easy” or “I don’t deserve it”. It’s there. You want it. It doesn’t NEED to be difficult to be worthwhile.

2. Do one thing at a time
Forget the multitasking. It doesn’t work. REALLY. It doesn’t work and you do not need to be the exception. If you are eating, eat with all you’ve got. If you are playing ball, play with all you’ve got. You don’t need to eat AND play ball. (I got that one because I threw the ball out to the yard in the middle of feeding time. I got a blank,  rather disgusted stare as if to say “Seriously? What do you think I am? I’m eating here!”)

3. Don’t give up if you are going after what you want.
Just keep trying. And try again. Or, like Dori in Finding Nemo, “just keep swimming, swimming, swimming.” You don’t need to explain it to others. You don’t need to feel stupid that you are trying the same thing that didn’t work moments before; Or running around trying from all different angles and positions. Each attempt from each angle may change the situation just enough, that when you come back to the beginning, it looks just a bit different and easier to solve.

4. You can still be scared by what you know.
ZigDog took a break from eating to sniff the grass. The Buddy Ball feeder rolled under ZigDog’s legs and hit his back paw. He jumped about a foot high, then saw what it was and resumed eating. So I remembered, it’s OK to be scared by the familiar. AND, if you are scared by something familiar, you have two choices:

LEAVE or GET OVER IT

There do not need to be any other decisions made. You know the situation, person, object so if your gut is telling you it’s scary, LEAVE IT. But if you figure out it was just a momentary awakening, then get over it an move on. Once again, no need to wander around feeling bad that you got scared by that which you already knew.

So, thanks, Ziggy for helping me see things a little clearer today. Now go get your leash, I want to explore the neighborhood again. There may be something new to sniff!

 

The gift of thought

If I were meant to be like everyone else, I never would have been given the gift of thought, because to follow the crowd takes no thought at all.  — Richard Bach, The Bridge Across Forever

And yet…and yet…WHY is it so hard to make our own decisions? To do what we KNOW is right; WHEN we know it’s right. Why are we creatures that can think ourselves back into problems that we have already solved?

Because, we are human. Wonderfully, uniquely human. And our gift of thought has two sides, just like everything else. The wonderful gift of thought and emotion that can help us dream, imagine, laugh, feel and touch our soul. And the “gift” of thought that keeps us spiraling towards “the norm”.

Recently I have been speaking to so many people who feel compelled to follow the crowd because it’s just easier than continuing this feeling of swimming upstream. However, the strength you build by following your own thoughts and feelings is so, so, SO much stronger than just floating along, being swept into the ocean.

So, USE your gift of thought. Ask your internal questions and don’t be afraid to follow YOUR answer. Yes, it can feel awkward at first, but like Richard Bach states in “The Bridge Across Forever” if you were meant to be like everyone else, you wouldn’t have been given the gift of thought. We’d be pure instinct. And that, my friend, good or bad, is what sets us apart from most of the animal world.

 

The essence IS myself

I raised to my lips a spoonful of the tea in which I had soaked a morsel of the cake.  No sooner had the warm liquid, and the crumbs with it, touched my palate than a shudder ran through my whole body, and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary changes that were taking place.  An exquisite pleasure had invaded my senses, but individual, detached, with no suggestion of its origin.  And at once the vicissitudes of life had become indifferent to me, its disasters innocuous, its brevity illusory – this new sensation has had on me the effect which love has of filling me with a precious essence; or rather this essence was not in me, it was myself.  I had ceased not to feel mediocre, accidental, mortal.
– Marcel Proust

“I had ceased not to feel mediocre, accidental, mortal.” All from a sip of tea. When we can slow down, and notice, with great attention to detail, the mundane aspects of life, THAT is when we really live.

Finding enlightenment is not an evening of firecrackers, songs, dance and jublience. In fact when it is grand, it usually fades into the distance quickly, leaving us with a sense that something just happened…but what? Enlightenment is not something to seek, to attain, to hold on to.  It is the ability to see our day to day life with wide eyes and open hearts and great love for the details, the space in between the details, and find love for yourself and all that surrounds you. Even if the moment sucks.

The essence of life is not AROUND you. It is not even IN you. It IS you.

 

Ask the right questions…

The expectation that positive change is possible is critical before positive change can occur.

And yet…and yet…we walk around every day wondering when the next tragedy will occur? What stock is down? What bank is folding? How much is my house losing in value? WHAT? This is exactly like asking ourselves – what is wrong with me?

The universe WILL show you the answer to your questions! you REALLY want to know what is wrong with you? Then ask the question and let the universe show you. If you’d like to know HOW you can succeed, or find love in your heart, or live with compassion and loving kindness – ask a different question.

Only then can we see the positive change that we can be. You MUST be able to imagine what you want before you can acheive it.

 

When I look in the mirror…I see “Dog”.

ZiggyDog

As many of my clients know, our family adopted a dog in August 2008. He was four and came from a loving family. We were given the list of  his “issues” and thought, sure, EVERY dog has issues.  So, we took home “Shanti” and renamed him “ZigZag”, or Ziggy, for short. To us, he was the antithesis of “Shanti,” a Sanskrit word for calm, enlightened, innerpeace.  Oh, and he Zigged when we wanted him to Zag.

He’s supposed to follow.  He’s not supposed to think for himself.  He doesn’t need to make decisions. That’s what the Olympic Athletes of Dog Training on TV say.  And I KNOW that in my head and my heart.

But I watch him and reflect on my own life. I’ve never been a good follower.  I get bored easily but I also don’t like to make decisions.  I need to DO things and figure it out for myself.  Sometimes I even like to try new things just for the experience of being lost (*twitch* admitting control…issues…*twitch*).  I don’t work well FOR others, no matter how much they ROCK.  I just seem to always ask questions like…what would happen if we try it this way? could it be more efficient (or fun, or safe, or fast) if we do it that way?

And now, I see my Dog doing the same thing.  I know, I know…he’s a DOG.  Don’t let him think.  But when he won’t heel, won’t come when he’s called, displays anxious-aggressive-dominant-fearful-whacked mix of behaviors, I just sort of smile and nod with an “I know, I get it. That bush DOES seem like it could hold the secret to life, if only we could sniff it one more time” and “walking behind my leg IS boring. Who would want to follow?”

Every day, when I look in the mirror, I see “Dog”.  The universe has presented us, meaning me, with ME, as Dog. There is no coincidence in that. Thank you, Universe. Thank you, God!

I just can’t help but wonder, if I come back next life as a dog, could I be named Shanti? Would I be as difficult as Ziggy? Probably. Probably.