Dogs Can Teach Us So Much About Life
We can learn so much from animals. Dogs truly are a gift. If you have ever had the opportunity to have a dog as part of your family, you will certainly resonate with this message. My husband and I have two dogs and over the years I realized how much you can learn about life with them by your side. I began to realize early on how different their personalities are in comparison to one another. I never thought their personalities could be drastically different. Chester is four years old. He possesses high levels of energy and has an ‘alpha’ personality. Buster is seven years old and has a heart of gold. He is an old soul, obsessed with food, and is the sweetest dog you will ever meet. He simply loves every moment of life.
By realizing how different Chester and Buster’s personalities are in comparison to each other, I handle them differently on a daily basis. Chester loves to be first in everything and gain as much attention as he can from humans. Buster is more reserved, calmer, and is content with resting. How can these lessons learned with dogs be valuable to our interactions with people? Well, we can better understand how to relate to individuals in our lives more effectively. Understanding an individual’s personality can also assist in team settings when it comes to motivation. When a coach of a team or manager understands how to motivate each individual according to their unique personality, achievement of success becomes a reality. We can adapt to the way we approach individuals in our lives and become better communicators with others.
A second lesson I have learned with Chester and Buster is to simply enjoy the small things in life. For example, taking a walk around the neighborhood. It may seem like something small to a human, however, a walk to a dog means the world. It provides them with an opportunity to exercise, sniff the scents of other dogs, and take in a breath of fresh air. For humans, a walk with dogs can teach us to be in the moment, removed from our busy schedules, and bask in the beauty of the world around us. We can learn that in life it is the small things we should always cherish.
A third lesson that we can learn from dogs is patience. Today in life, we expect everything to happen instantaneously. Whether it is success in what you are pursuing or waiting for a text message to be returned. To enjoy the journey, it simply takes time. Both dogs love their food. They know when it is getting closer to the time they eat in the afternoon. They will let you know this when you are at the desk working. How do they do this? They let you know with a stare down or they choose to sit right in your peripheral vision for you to realize it is ‘that time’. The patience it takes to make it to ‘that time’ always reminds me of the patience I aim to have in life.
It is exciting when we are almost at the finish line to achieving our goals, but getting there simply takes time. As we know, having patience is not always easy. We desire to witness success quickly. We want to achieve our goals fast. The unfortunate truth is success does not come overnight. What if we learned from dogs that life truly is all about enjoying each step of the journey and having the patience to achieve our goals. Perhaps we would appreciate our journey much more and maybe even have a more optimistic outlook on what life truly has to offer.
