Eat, walk, love. Meet our new pup, Kessie.

For those of you who haven’t heard, last Saturday we brought home a rescue dog with the intent to foster until a ‘forever home’ is found for her.  Kessie is a 7-month old Husky/Shiba Inu mix from Alabama.  (I had to look up Shiba Inu, too – it’s a small Japanese breed. With her Husky genes, though, she will be a bigger girl.)

When we said goodbye to our sweet Goldie in March, we were devastated. For 14 years she was our third child, the love of our life.  No more dogs for us, it was just too painful.  Then we heard about Big Fluffy Dog Rescue… well, you know what came next… and today we made it official.  She is staying in our forever home!

Life is so simple for a dog (when they are in a good home).  What do they need and want?  To have food and clean water, to be taken for walks and romps in the park, and to be loved. It’s that simple. Kessie eats quickly and laps up water faster than any dog I’ve ever seen.  Her high energy level means we are getting more exercise walking her.  She wants, and receives lots of petting and attention, which in turn makes us feel all warm and mushy inside. No doubt about it, we are total pushovers.  Kessie often rests and sleeps with her head under a bed or chair.  Did you know it’s called ‘denning’, the instinct to be in a den or hiding place?  Aaahhh.  It is, indeed, a dog’s life.

It makes me think about how complicated life is for us humans, or how complicated we make it.  Some days the ‘dog’s life’ is very appealing. I could get used to someone else putting out my food, taking me for long walks, giving me belly rubs and hugs… for a little while, anyway.

Think about your children as babies.  Their needs are so basic. As time goes on, you look into their future and start planning (something that animals don’t do, only we sentient human beings).  The joys of the moment, the innocence of childhood, begin to evaporate — so many expectations and goals to be met, experiences to have, opportunities not to be missed. Before you know it, you’re thinking about their path to college.  For some of you that begins when they are in kindergarten.  You spend so much time preparing them for college that you forget to prepare them for life, and to just enjoy life.

With or without children most of you fall into similar, goal-oriented patterns, and living for your responsibilities. I’m just as guilty of this as the next person.  I spend way too much time in front of a computer screen.  There is always ‘stuff’ to take care of, both tasks and things.  My husband I talk more about quiet moments than we actually have them.  Both aging parents and adult children need us.

Don’t get me wrong.  This is part of life… but it’s not all of life.  Stop and smell those roses.  Give someone an extra hug today. Pick up the phone and call someone you haven’t spoken to for too long.  (Yes, the phone!  Not a text or an email, but a real, live, voice-to-voice conversation.)  Sing in the shower.  Dance in the kitchen and make your family wonder what’s up with you.  Be silly.  Learn to knit.  (A friend of mine swears that knitting saved her sanity.)  Just be, and teach your children to just be.  Be more like Kessie.  Love and be loved and make life a little simpler.

Be well, be happy, be your child-like self.

Fern

P.S. – How can you simplify your life?  What would you like your kids to know about appreciating the moment they’re in?  Leave a comment below… and show this article to at least five people.  Everyone needs a reminder to slow down.