I am playing our usual game of tug; whippet and ball retrieve with Deuce and Rio. This combo has become one of our standard games that we play on certain mornings.
The dogs being keen on any visual cue that we are heading to the “soccer-field” begin to jump and run giddy. In the meantime, I take my time trying to gather all that is needed for our little interaction: sunglasses, tissues (bad allergies :( ) hat, water bottle, tug toy, whippet and the big orange ball. The dogs are in their position waiting. Waiting for it all to begin.
As I send my first ball out to Deuce and make the whippet toy come alive, I sense myself smiling BIG. My thoughts turn to how much fun the three of us are having! I call experiences (and awareness) like this [my] joy meter. Not only am I happy to see them happy, it goes beyond that: I am feeling JOY!
I am very interested in pretty much anything that pertains to the brain and the nervous system and because of that I try and read about these two topics on a regular basis.
One of the things that I have learned via different sources is that our brain is “wired” for unpleasant events, fear related events and that we MUST make a conscientious choice of allowing our brain to register positive experiences. The more our brain is “trained” to integrate positive experiences the greater the possibility for making everlasting changes in their neurology. When these changes take place within our brains, we are able to feel more joy… it sounds as if we are bypassing the pre-installed wiring of our brains.
So I am on a mission here: As recommended I stop and make myself express out loud in gratitude for all what is good in my life and life in general. This simple recognition (according to some of my sources is necessary to spend around 5 to 20 sec.
reminiscing with as much detail as possible on the positive experience) so that the experience truly sinks into our “fleshy-brain”.
So, I have carved moments where I take the time to do this: my early drive to boot camp - dawn breaking, late afternoon or dusk, as I watch the day end and when I am playing with my dogs.
I can describe my feelings of joy in quite a few ways, but a salient one is feeling a sense of “balance”- of all being just right! And this leaves me feeling that I need nothing more. As I toss the ball to Deuce I literally feel a warm sensation. Rio is running full blast towards me - sometimes with the tug toy hanging funny from her mouth. Indeed, the joy meter is rising…
There are indeed other instances where my dogs bring me great joy. The trick for me is to pay attention to our everyday interactions as well as them acting just like dogs. I really enjoy seeing how they are individual beings with specific likes and dislikes. I take note of these as well as any diversion from what I consider to be Deuce’s ways or Rio’s.
For example, very rarely will Deuce lie down to sunbathe himself while Rio… but the other day, Deuce was outside in the sun chewing his marrowbone with gusto and Rio surprised me with wanting to go hang out in her crate to chew her own bone in privacy!
I thought I would never live to see this.
As best I can, I try and honor their differences and my self-imposed commitment to treating them as individuals brings me once again great satisfaction or shall I say joy?
The dogs being keen on any visual cue that we are heading to the “soccer-field” begin to jump and run giddy. In the meantime, I take my time trying to gather all that is needed for our little interaction: sunglasses, tissues (bad allergies :( ) hat, water bottle, tug toy, whippet and the big orange ball. The dogs are in their position waiting. Waiting for it all to begin.
As I send my first ball out to Deuce and make the whippet toy come alive, I sense myself smiling BIG. My thoughts turn to how much fun the three of us are having! I call experiences (and awareness) like this [my] joy meter. Not only am I happy to see them happy, it goes beyond that: I am feeling JOY!
I am very interested in pretty much anything that pertains to the brain and the nervous system and because of that I try and read about these two topics on a regular basis.
One of the things that I have learned via different sources is that our brain is “wired” for unpleasant events, fear related events and that we MUST make a conscientious choice of allowing our brain to register positive experiences. The more our brain is “trained” to integrate positive experiences the greater the possibility for making everlasting changes in their neurology. When these changes take place within our brains, we are able to feel more joy… it sounds as if we are bypassing the pre-installed wiring of our brains.
So I am on a mission here: As recommended I stop and make myself express out loud in gratitude for all what is good in my life and life in general. This simple recognition (according to some of my sources is necessary to spend around 5 to 20 sec.
reminiscing with as much detail as possible on the positive experience) so that the experience truly sinks into our “fleshy-brain”.
So, I have carved moments where I take the time to do this: my early drive to boot camp - dawn breaking, late afternoon or dusk, as I watch the day end and when I am playing with my dogs.
I can describe my feelings of joy in quite a few ways, but a salient one is feeling a sense of “balance”- of all being just right! And this leaves me feeling that I need nothing more. As I toss the ball to Deuce I literally feel a warm sensation. Rio is running full blast towards me - sometimes with the tug toy hanging funny from her mouth. Indeed, the joy meter is rising…
There are indeed other instances where my dogs bring me great joy. The trick for me is to pay attention to our everyday interactions as well as them acting just like dogs. I really enjoy seeing how they are individual beings with specific likes and dislikes. I take note of these as well as any diversion from what I consider to be Deuce’s ways or Rio’s.
For example, very rarely will Deuce lie down to sunbathe himself while Rio… but the other day, Deuce was outside in the sun chewing his marrowbone with gusto and Rio surprised me with wanting to go hang out in her crate to chew her own bone in privacy!
I thought I would never live to see this.
As best I can, I try and honor their differences and my self-imposed commitment to treating them as individuals brings me once again great satisfaction or shall I say joy?
No comments:
Post a Comment