A Dog Gone Lesson

Those that know me best or that follow me on social media know that I have a knack for finding a message or lesson in everyday occurrences.  Today is no different as we celebrate the return of our dog Joey after he somehow escaped yesterday and disappeared for approximately eighteen hours.

Last night the house was full of emotion as we gave up our search and grappled with all of the worse case scenario thoughts that kept passing through our minds.  We know that most dogs are intelligent and that there was a pretty good chance Joey was out just looking for some female companionship and would return.  Understandably, the thoughts of him never returning, being hit by a car or some other tragic end kept creeping into our heads as bedtime neared.  By the time the kids got into bed everyone was crying and they finally fell asleep, exhausted from the trauma of losing their friend.

I could not let a bad time go to waste however, and before the kids fell asleep I made sure to use this scenario as a teaching moment.  I made sure they knew that if they ever thought about running away, not coming home, or not advising us of their whereabouts, they would put us in a position to experience the very same emotions they were feeling with Joey being gone.  The stress of not knowing if they were safe, if we would ever see them again or if they were in danger are very real fears that they were now feeling for themselves.

I felt a strong sense of relief as the sun rose today and Joey emerged from around the corner of the house.  There was a sense of joy and excitement at 6:30 a.m. as the kids woke up and realized their puppy was back.  At the same time, there was a sense of sadness I felt as I thought about this whole story.  Our dog ran away and our emotions went crazy wondering where he was and if he was OK.  I realized that sometimes our actions cause others a great deal of stress and anxiety.  I realized that we need to think before we take action.  Our actions have a way of negatively impacting and disrupting the lives of our family members, our friends, our coworkers and everyone else that we interact with on a personal or professional level.  The opposite is true as well.  Our actions can also encourage, empower or positively impact the lives of those around us.  The question is, are we selfless enough to think before we act?  It is a good Dog Gone Lesson to learn.

Thanks for reading!