Today my dog’s happiness is my altared space. She doesn’t need to practice happiness, it comes natural to her. That’s why I like hanging out with her. She’s my teacher.
She loves rocks, as do I. They bring her great happiness and she collects one on almost every walk we take. The reason I like watching her collect rocks is that she doesn’t need a big agenda for stone collection. She doesn’t have a pile at home where she keeps them all (like I do). She has no special cupboard where she savors them (to put on tables for centerpieces).
I collect stones with a purpose. They make my home more beautiful when displayed on my dining room table amid candles and flowers. But I wonder if I lose some joy as I collect by having this goal of completion. I’m searching for just the right medley of combination.
It makes me happy to linger over rocks matched this way and that and fuss over color combinations, but there is also a pining for more. My dog does not pine.
She simply enjoys having a rock in her mouth. Consequently she carries a stone when she finds one that makes her happy. When a delicious odor of horse dung or a rotting beaver pelt beckons to her nose, she happily abandons her rock and goes to sniff.
There are other rocks further down the trail. Many fit into her mouth and she seems to enjoy them all. She scoops up another, and happily continues down life’s path.
I want to collect happiness in just this way: sniffing the odors that lay in wait amid the sage brush hidden in the red dirt. I want to change the rock I’m carrying in this moment for the one waiting in the next.
I have been ambitious in my life, even about my pursuit of happiness. Am I getting enough? How do I compare? Is there someone less happy than me that I should be helping? I want to make it an even-steven game.
But I don’t think happiness is a destination so much as it is a journey. We need not arrive. The best thing I learn from my dog, Ode Yedder, is that happiness is not a contest or a job in which I need to give myself a daily grade.
I’ll enjoy each rock I pass, then pass by to notice the next. All my dog does is keep her feet walking, putting life in her mouth as she goes along. I could hardly do worse.
Do you ever feel happiness is a contest and you’re getting more/less than your share? Is happiness a destination or a journey?
I’ve been newly introduced to this community of writers at five for ten where there are a myriad of fabulous writers discussing happiness.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
I think dogs could teach us a lot about happiness. They don’t overthink or expect too much. They make their needs known. They love openly. I adore the picture of the rock in the mouth!
Oh, Rebecca, this is heartwarming. Another dog lover! I get so much joy from playing with my pup, and often think about all I can learn from her. Be excited every time my husband comes home or company comes to visit. Give lots of kisses. Wag more, bark less. Smell the flowers, nap in the sun. Oh, I love that pup!
Two things about your writing really caught me. First, about being ambitious toward happiness. I’ve done this too. Isn’t this funny, and so *not* the way to find happiness? Perfectionism, planning, organization – all of those things that usually help us reach a goal can actually hinder us in the pursuit of happiness.
And second, about happiness being a journey and not a destination to reach once and for all. Oh yes, this is true. Such wisdom!
Happiness is definitely a journey, and a wonderful one, at that. I’ll check out five for ten right now!
You are very right, happiness is a journey, with lots of bumps and rocks in the way. If more of us could understand that, I think we’d find contentment a lot easier.
Eva,
I, too, am going to try to wag more and bark less.
Yvette,
I think you will be happy finding many wonderful writers at Five for Ten. I have all the happy feelings of school with none of the fright of tests or term papers.
You wanna know something odd, I am always picking up a rock, just like your dog. I have one in my hand many times during the day. I always have one in my pocket or purse. It reminds me to stay grounded. I am a rock hound. Having a part of the earth in my hand always without fail makes me happy. When my kids are grumpy; I hand them a rock to hold and tell them to shake it off and when it is gone, they can put the rock down. It works. Your dog must have figured out the happiness that rocks carry too.
I think happiness depends on your perspective, sometimes we dont even know what happiness is until we find ourselves lost and sad. And then we turn around and say,”why did I not appreciate that happy moment, I missed it”.
SO clever. I love the comparison of you and your dog. The rocks. The thought that happiness is a journey. The wonder any of us ever is happy enough. The photo is so gorgeous, too. So glad you found us!
“There are other rocks further down the trail.”
What a great line. There ARE other rocks, we just need to be able to see them.
Aren’t our four-legged pals the best teachers sometimes?? The sweet, simple joy of savoring a tasty rock … What a metaphor for living in the moment and appreciating the now.
Joely,
I just took a walk and felt a little floaty. I took your advice and put a rock in each of my hands….it worked!