The eve of the new year is always a time for both reflection and hope.
We reflect on what has transpired and hope that it will either continue, or move out of our lives. Some things are best left in the past and some things are meant to join us as we step into the future.
It is with great gratitude that I enter the new year with my dogs and my horses. The animals in my life are without a shadow of a doubt the best thing that has ever happened to me. As I have said many times in the past, my life is rich beyond imagination and expectation as a result of them.
I didn’t expect any of the dogs and horses I share my life with to show up as they did. I just knew I wanted a life filled with them. I set the intention of living a life with animals and that life was created for me. But the animals themselves are not the life experience. It is the life that happened and all of its twists and tales while in the company of the animals that has had the most profound impact.
My life is dogs and horses; yours might not be. Your life could be music, painting, teaching or parenting. It is anything that grabs hold of your heart and drags you in one direction. You somehow know that no matter what happens in your life, you could never be without that “thing.” That “thing” is the anchor that holds your life in balance.
And that is what my critters have done for me. They have held my life in balance, in check, while on their four legs or walking alongside me as I experience the good and the bad. They don’t keep the big bad wolf from my door, but instead keep me grounded while I open that door and ask the wolf what it wants today.
If you share your life with a dog, I can guarantee that keeping you grounded is one of the reasons that dog is in your life. Your dog is more than just a hiking buddy or family pet. That dog is there to help you live in a place of ease and comfort, regardless of the storm brewing outside or in your own mind. You may not feel it right now, but one day you will.
We all would love the gift of prophecy, as if knowing what our life will be like ahead of time would give us an advantage so we can somehow sway the forces in our favour. That way we would not have to experience the lows in life. But life is funny because in order to enjoy the highs, we have to experience the lows. That is the duality of life — the good with the bad, the ups and the downs, the ebbs and the flows. A dog helps you climb out of the lows and life doesn’t seem too bad. Just taking a walk with your dog and watching it enjoy everything along the way can put a smile where a frown once lived.
Life is going to happen and you have a choice to either fight whatever you don’t like that’s happening at the time or simply step back and go with the flow.
Fighting it is like picking at a scab covering a wound. The more you pick at it, the longer it takes to heal, leaving a bigger scar in its place. Going with the flow is like leaving the wound alone and trusting the body to heal itself. It knows the wound is there, it just needs time to heal itself, and when it is done the scar will be minimal, if there is one at all.
Life doesn’t happen to you, it happens for you with lessons along the way.
As we enter another year filled with the unknown, trust that your dog will help you along the way. By taking a moment and appreciating the four-legged ball of love at your side, you can conquer whatever the big bad wolf has in store.
Joan Klucha has been working with dogs for more than 15 years in obedience, tracking and behavioural rehabilitation. Contact her through her website k9kinship.com.
