How To Be Happier – Be More Dog

husky photo on beach siberian husky pictures

No, I’m not referring to the O2 campaign from 2013. And yes, when it comes to happiness, I really do stand by the phrase ‘be more dog.’

Sometimes, when we’re trapped in our manic human worlds, we forget the important things. In the past few days I’ve stressed about very ‘human’ things. My tax return (bleuurgh), losing a set of car keys, getting the car serviced in time (yawn) and unnecessarily stressing about the future.

This afternoon, I perched my posterior on my sofa and sat down to do some work.

I glanced at my dogs laid there sprawled out on either side of me, and thought to myself, why can’t I be more dog?

Now before you start to think I’m losing my mind, hold your horses. What I mean by this is, living in the moment and being content with what you’ve got.

Dogs live in the moment. If anyone should be chosen as a mindfulness guru it’s my husky called Rav. At any given time, I swear his only concern is, do I need a wee and when do I get to play with my toys? Occasionally, he might be thinking about whether he’ll finally catch a squirrel

Well, a guy can dream, can’t he?

It would be nice to put myself in their shoes for a day. And failing that, do something that’s within my control – to be content with my life. Every time my mind wanders on to yet another worry, maybe I should stop myself and think – be more dog.

Dogs are extremely adaptable. They work with what they’ve got and make the best of it.

Us humans could certainly learn a thing or two from them. We’ve got far too caught up in the worries of modern life and given ourselves little space to breathe.

We can’t even wait patiently for anything anymore, not without sitting or standing there mindlessly scrolling through our phones hoping that social media or the internet will fill a void we never really knew existed.

Before phones, we probably spent a lot more time just being present in the moment. We’d stand in a line at the supermarket people watching and taking in our surroundings instead of quickly checking our Instagram feeds. Our pooches are quite happy to have a moment of quiet and patiently wait (OK maybe not all dogs) for us to take them out, feed them and give them love.

Our canine companions have this kind of boundless enthusiasm for life and it’s infectious.

When you play with your dog or greet them after a long day at work, you can’t help but join them in their joy. It seems dogs really can teach us about what matters most – our happiness. And also to appreciate family and those we love.

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Could you imagine if us humans greeted our partners in the same way our dogs greet us? OK, maybe not the tail wagging and jumping up part, but the pure elation at having a loved one grace us with their company.

Dogs aren’t afraid to let go and show off their true selves. They accept who they are and embrace it. They don’t spend half their day worrying about their flaws, or how they could improve themselves (or at least I don’t think so).

Anyway, I’m not 100% sure what the aim of this post is other than to admit there are a few life lessons we can learn from dogs. And probably the most important one is to live in the moment and be grateful for all the wonderful things we have.

Over and out.

#bemoredog

Above images by Kristida Photography

husky in austria in the snow

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