Month: October 2022

Lessons from our dog Amber

I’ve never had a dog. Not until we got one in 2021 during the height of COVID. I realized after getting a dog that I have so much to learn. It’s amazing what our dog Amber has taught me without saying anything verbally.

I’m a true believer that there are lessons to be learned all around us. Natural patterns of the creation and the universe is filled with so many lessons if we are willing to stop and pay attention and learn from them.

Dogs are definitely one of those entities that if we observed quietly, we can learn so much from.

The way they look at you, the way they love you, the way they care for you and the way they convey how they feel without any spoken words…

When it all comes down to it, they just want to give love. All they want in return is attention from you. In fact, you can even starve a dog and it will still love you. That kind of unconditional love is unheard of. I mean where are you going to find a creature that loves you no matter what. You can starve a dog, you can beat it up (not that you would ever do that) and it will still come back to you, want to be close to you and empathize with you, can even feel your feelings and support you when you need it most. Who does that? No humans that I know of at least.

It’s hard to believe that dogs originated from wolves. We look at wolves and we see a ferocious creature that can rip you apart and then you look at a little cute yorkie poodle, like we have, or something similar to that and all you can think of is how cute he or she is and how you just want to shower them with your love and attention. Nature is funny that way.

I definitely have learned a lot from our dog Amber and still continue to learn how to love, how to not be judgmental, how to be caring, how to appreciate the smaller things in life and stop to smell the flowers (and grass, and weeds and everything in between ☺️). It’s like she is an explorer every time we take her out. Like she is seeing and experiencing things for a first time. In the back of my mind, I know that she is really searching for new smells and other dogs’ pee and stuff like that but just the act by itself helps you remember that the wonder of all that is around us is something to be appreciated and paid attention to instead of just walking by. Keeping the wonders alive in our minds is what keeps us young. Repetitiveness makes things boring and we get older faster IMHO. I really believe that wonder by itself is an anti-aging potion which prevents boredom and keeps things interesting. Time goes by a lot more fruitful when you are intentionally spending it instead of having it spent by repetitive tasks that are mundane or waiting for others to tell you what to do.

So thank you Amber. I very much appreciate the life lessons that you continue to teach me. I’ll continue to pay attention and learn from you.

You will be forgotten

I know it’s a hard thing to accept but every single one of us that is alive today will be forgotten eventually.

It might take a few generations, but unless you make a mark on the world like Rockefeller, Einstein, Hitler, etc (yes, good and bad…) there will come a day when no one in the world will remember your name. How they remember you is up to your actions.

The first death is when your breath leaves your body. The second death is when you have been forgotten from the thoughts of the people living.

Of course, then come the questions: why should I care about doing anything if I’m going to be forgotten anyway? What’s the point of living?

Since we come into this world with nothing and leave with nothing. What’s the point of it all?

The point is to not focus on the duration of life but the donation of yourself.

What’s in your hand? What can you do to benefit others no matter how small?

That’s where you and I both should focus on. The impact we can make on others and on the world. That’s what the meaning of life is all about. Leaving this world and the people in it better than how you found it when you arrived.