How a Labrador teaches me to live a happy life


You think you are happy? Trust me you would know true happiness, only once you learn to observe dogs. They know what happiness is and they totally believe in it too.

Btw, I stay with my wife and a Labrador, called “Scotch”.

Just like his name, he gets better with age. He plays a lot, sleeps a lot, loves a tonne, and eats a lot too.

Yet, he never barks, he never did, He is weird that way.

Most of my friends have a dog as pets too.

You kind of socialise more with people who love animals, once you are an animal lover yourself. It’s like an unsaid rule everyone follows. People with pets, have friends who like pets, and vice-versa.

Everyone who has ever owned a pet or a dog would know that dogs have as many characters as humans do, and no two dogs are alike.
Today I’ll write about characteristics I have seen common between most of the dogs I know, and yet are completely rare among us humans.

Only if we learnt from them, we would be so much happier and peaceful.

  1. They live in the moment.
    Dogs live in the moment. Their life revolves around the very moment they are present in, they are not bothered about yesterday or tomorrow. They play when they want to, and simply lay down with closed eyes when they desire. Simple. They are like“Enlightened Guru” that way.

I meditate and am spiritual and all.
Yet I have never met a single enlightened soul in my life, but as far as I can imagine enlightenment, I know it would be exactly the state most of the dogs live their whole life in. They don’t fret over things beyond their control, and yet are so much open for love from everyone.

  1. Mood swings? – your dog will still love you with all heart.My dog is a literal MONK, in pastI have forgotten to feed him, walk him, left him in-car, at home alone, at parks, stalled him in middle of roads talking to friends, and ignored him every now and then.

Yet, when I am back to him, he always pounces on me with love and affection. I love him for that, he understands that I have other things to take care too, he understands that my aloofness has nothing to do with him and I’ll be back to him as soon as I am done being busy.

You can be mad at your dog, not talk to him for the whole day, trust me, he knows when you get mad at him, yet, once you are happy and back, he is happy. They never drag the Cold War like we do.

  1. They love everyone
    All they know is to give love, they rarely hold grudges from their past, they know to let go. They love everyone unless you haven’t socialised your dog right, he will love everyone that comes through your door.

Once my dog literally followed my carpenter, and the carpenter had to come all the way back to my place to return him.

No, this doesn’t mean that he is unhappy with me, it simply means that he loves being loved and loving back, doesn’t matter who the other person is.

You love a dog, he loves you back. it’s simple. No grey areas.

  1. They live happily in solitude as much they enjoy the company.
    They can spend a whole day without being bothered by you, and yet run for you as soon as you show the slightest interest in them.

They are extremely lovely that way and hence dependant on you too much, when you are sad they are sad, when you are happy they are happy. They reflect your personality and mood totally. They become a part of you, no one else can ever love you like that.

I had read somewhere that every dog is exact reflections of its master.

I tried applying this theory and bam!! Each time, it came up with perfect results.

Angry people bred angry pets, loving and friendly people, always had the friendliest and socially active pets.

  1. They seldom worry.
    I have never met a single dog who stores food for future meals or worry about their next meal. They eat, poop, and then go out to find something to eat. Simple.

They don’t worry about tough futures, they live for today. If they even must skip meal some days, they never learn the lesson to store it, they are naive that way, you know why?

Because they never learn to worry. You can never train a dog to worry.

  1. They are either too much or doing nothing. No in between.
    They don’t have grey areas for emotions, either you will find them sleeping doing nothing, or you will see them going crazy while playing fetch or walking to the park.

They don’t attach themselves to pity emotions like us, they don’t care about the grumpy neighbours, they don’t care about politics in between dogs, they don’t care for their bad masters.

They have a pack mentality and yet they know how to accept their position as a master of the pack or as a follower. They don’t plan on being the leader, they simply are, or aren’t.

We can learn a great deal from the about acceptance and never bother about any problems of the future, most of which won’t even come true.

  1. They REALLY know love.
    They don’t care of you are blind, rich, criminal, famous, or poor. Even if you are disabled or dependent on them for your daily needs, they will treat you as a master.

For them, you are the master, and nothing ever changes that for them. They will love you and stay loyal to you, no matter what. They will never leave you if you cannot feed them for a day or two.

A dog will die next to you but seldom leave you in your times of need. I guess, that is what makes them loyal. Isn’t that what loyalty is about?

Bonus – They know that self-esteem is in doing, not refraining oneself.
They are ready to look silly if it’s fun to them, they don’t carry a mental image of themselves and seldom worry about how other dogs perceive them. If it looks like fun, a dog will be all paw into it, without bothering about its self-esteem. They are content you see, and hence never worry about self-pride.

I wish more people had pets, I wish they all understood that what a blessing it is to have a pet.

I hope people could understand that, whatever you give your dog, he returns it back to you thousand times over.

Have a pet, not for the animal, but for yourself, it will teach you a great deal about happiness and love. No human can ever teach you that.

I wish they could live longer.

Till next time,

Love

Sumeet Soni

 


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