A Dog's Life

I am ready this morning recording with my coffee in my hand my peppermint CBD has been added to my coffee if you are not using my CBD with carry the peppermint in your coffee, I just I just don't know what to say. It's so good. So I am ready with coffee in hand to talk about a dog's life. A dog's life thing i Things I Learned from and learn from. Specifically, my dog. Giselle. We have had Giselle since last summer, she's 10 years old.

She has a rescue dog, little miniature poodle, gray, silver, she's absolutely a delight, have a dog. And I realized yesterday that there are so many things that we could learn from this happy little dog. She's about, oh, about 15 pounds of happiness. That's what she's her entire DNA is just a happy gene. I'm convinced of it. She is she's this little dog. And when she gets up in the morning, so she waits for me to get up. And then she'll yawn and she'll and she's very vocal, she will always make noise when she yards, you know, like that. And then she will if you pick her up, she'll go all she's just so happy to see you in the morning. So she'll wake up, or I'll wake up and then she will open one eye and look at me and watch me go around the room. But as soon as I head for the door, she is off that bed. But she doesn't want to just run downstairs first. First. She has to first she has to greet you first. She has to be all around your feet and she wants to she wants to communicate and she wants you to pet her and she's happier and her tail is going and then she runs down the steps and waits at the door. She's just she cannot wait to go outside. She's so happy Her tail is wagging her I swear she's smiling. She looks at you and her eyes are dancing. And she can't wait because she gets to go outside and smell all the poop in the yard. And it's all hers. But she can't wait to get out there. She cannot wait. She she runs all over the yard and she sniffs everything and she takes her nose as she tries to cover things up and she's kicking her feet. She is so happy that she gets To get up and go outside and go to the bathroom it is like it is like the best day in the world because she gets it is the same every day. But she cannot wait. She cannot wait to greet the day. She can't wait. She has this basket of squeaky toys. And her favorite thing is for you to toss one squeaky toy after another and she chases them she's got avocado toast and she's got croissants, and she's got waffles and and all kinds of fun little squeaky toys. She's even got a bottle of pink champagne. And we tossed them across from the living room to the kitchen. And she we have marble floors and she loves to run and then slide on the marble grab the toy and come back as fast as she can. She could do that all day. All day. Her favorite treat in the world is an ice cube. And when she hears that ice cube maker, she comes running from wherever she is and that she could be in the deepest sleep but if you put ice in a cup, she needs an ice cube and she is so happy.

It is as if you gave her the most expensive treat in the entire world. That ice cube is her life. She will come stare at us sometimes in the kitchen and we know she just sits in the on the floor and stares at us it means I'm thirsty. I would like an ice cube please. This dog doesn't drink water. She doesn't have a water dish. She only wants ice cubes. She drinks rainwater, she eats no period, end of story. We have tried putting water in a water dish. She will ignore it and wait for the ice cube. She is just funny. She's a funny little dog. She if you say the words, walk or ride, her whole world explodes with a joy that I cannot even put in two words. She doesn't need exotic vacations. She doesn't care where we go. We could put her in the car and ride around the block and come home and she will be so happy. So happy. Pick up the leash, and she'll dance around your feet until you can't move. She's just always happy. It takes so little to make her happy. She'll eat whatever you give her. Everything is a feast to her everything. Everything. She doesn't care. As long as she's with us. She doesn't care. She greets us. Like we have been gone a year if we walk outside to put something in the recycle bin and come back in. It's like oh my gosh, where have you been? And she's jumping up all over us. And she's she's trying to lick our faces. I mean, she is just so happy to see us all the time. Go out for a for a doctor's visit and come home. It's like you are her long lost favorite person in the world. She is just enjoying life. She loves life, no matter what.

No matter what is going on. She is offering this love and happiness that is unparalleled.

Our last dog was quite serious. And not that she didn't like to thought that she didn't love us. She did and we loved her and losing her was devastating. But we never she never played cat she never wanted to play fetch. She liked her walks for sure. But she wasn't she didn't have this level of happiness she was she was the dog that would sit on the couch and get angry at other dogs for tussling on the floor and she would tell them so she was just the matriarch he was very serious. She was the mama, this dog. This dog is just Giselle is the happiest little animal I have ever seen in my life. There is literally not a mean bone in her body. If she was a person, she would be the person that everyone wants to be friends with because they never have a main word to say about anybody. And they're always happy and they're happy doing whatever, what ever you want to do. They're always happy to see you. This is the friend that everybody wants. So the things that I learn from my dog specifically from my dogs, specifically, number one, wake up happy.

Greet every day with joy. Giselle has no idea what's gonna happen that day but she doesn't care. She just wakes up happy ready to go. She's gonna get to go outside and smell all the poop in the yard. And she cannot wait. If the birds are out singing she's listening. Her ears are up the other day turkeys wild turkeys were gobbling up in the woods and as she just stopped and started sniffing the air I mean she just wakes up happy. So number one lesson wake up happy. Number two greet everyone with a smile. Greet everyone with a joy that oh my gosh, you are my favorite person in the whole wide world and where have you been for the last five minutes? Greet everyone with a smile And I know right now we're wearing masks everywhere we go, but your eyes can smile. You can still walk with your shoulders squared, and Smiling.

Smiling under that was a very rude, rude little catch in my throat there at the most inopportune time. You can smile with your eyes. People can tell I can still tell your mood. We may may not be able to see the smiles right now. But you can see the eyes, your eyes or your window to the soul. So greet everyone with an eye smile. Embrace the joy in every day life number three, embrace the joy in everyday life. Simple pleasures. Taking a walk reading a book, spending time with your family. How about mealtime, making it a time of conversation and connection rather than a rush out the door with a protein bar in your hand. Enjoy and embrace all the little joys in every single day. Number four, take naps. take naps. When Giselle is tired, she takes a nap. Right now she's been up she's had her breakfast she has run around a bit and now she's up on the couch, taking a nap. She's just resting because she understands that your body needs rest to keep going and she wants to be well rested up when the word walk comes into her life or ride. Because then it takes a whole lot of energy to get all the joy out that those two words bring. Embrace the joy in everyday life and take naps. take naps when you're tired. Rest. Number five, explore, explore. Giselle explores everything you go outside she is exploring every the edge of the woods. She's sniffing where the deer have been overnight.

She loves to explore because she wants to enjoy life. And number six, look at life as an opportunity to love unconditionally. love unconditionally. If we are having a bad day, she still loves us unconditionally. If we are arguing with each other in the house, she still loves us unconditionally. She doesn't put any requirements on her loving us. She just does. She just does. Wake up happy. Greet everyone with a smile. Embrace the simple pleasures in every day life. take naps, explore. Look at life as an opportunity to love unconditionally. We can learn a lot. We can learn a lot from the dogs in our lives. If we take the time to learn and maybe you're not a dog lover, maybe you're a cat lover or maybe you love durables, learn from them.

animals, animals are so instinctive and they just they just enjoy life. They don't get up every day and fret about things. They just live. They just live. They don't overthink things they live we could learn a lot. Giselle has taught me a lot in the short time we've had her. We were nervous because she was an older dog. But she has brought a joy into our house that is unparalleled. Learn. Learn from learn from everything around you. Specifically these things I've learned from Giselle, I wanted to pass on to you wake up happy. Greet everyone with a smile. Embrace the joy, the simple pleasures and everyday take naps explore. Look at life as an opportunity to love unconditionally. Your journal prompt today is simply this. things I have learned from the animals in my life are could be a horse, sheep, goats. They all teach us lessons. They all teach us lessons. So what are you learning? I love you I am your biggest fan. I cannot wait to meet with you again.