Lessons from man’s best friend

Recently, my sister had to put one of her beloved dogs to sleep abruptly. Things can change fast. What seemed to be a healthy guy and ran 15 km on the spring ice in the archipelago, was gone a couple of days later after an extremely aggressive cancer diagnosis. It wasn’t really expected because he was only seven years old and hadn’t shown any suspicions signs. Sad as it is, it is also a healthy reminder that the same rules apply to us humans, albeit over a somewhat more extended timeframe.

We have two Labradors, one of which recently turned 11 years old, so he is already past his best-before date. That means that I cannot be surprised if he is also gone any day now without notice. I have been extra careful to play around with him and give him attention lately and since I learned about my sisters´ dog, I have increased my attention efforts further. To cherish each and every moment is the easiest thing in the world to understand, yet one of the hardest things to implement. Why is that? My first guess is that cherishing the moment means that you must devote your full attention to the smallest things in front of you, all the time. And that is hard. It is so much easier to focus on the big things in life, but they are simply not as important. You can never fix a failing marriage with a wonderful one-week dream vacation together. Seven days later you are back in your old habits, and nothing has changed. I believe that a simple thing as smiling and greeting her every day when she gets home from work is much more effective. However, it is more like a prophylaxis. But even if things have already gone south, the only option you have is probably to use the pre-emptive approach with small things every day. There is certainly a point where a marriage becomes unsalvageable, but if you haven’t reached it yet, the prophylaxis might turn the ship around, even if it is applied late.

Back to the dogs. Another thing I learned when thinking about my sisters´ late dog is that age biological age and spiritual age are two very different things. One of, or perhaps even the most important parameter when I pulled the trigger in 2019 and chose a life of self-employment was that I set the workplace rules. And on the pole position of that list is unquestionably that office dogs are allowed. Period. The health benefits, both physical and mental, that they bring to the table dwarf any counterargument. Looking back to my life with my office dogs, we have been together every single day, every waking hour, for the past four years. The math is simple; put your dog in some daycare or leave it outside in the kennel while you go to work, and chances are you might need a 30-year-old dog to clock up the same number of hours together as I have now with my furry friends in just four years. I think that will be a good conciliation for me when the inevitable day arrives. And yet again, the same rules apply to humans. That makes any 50-hour work week, travels, or pressure that comes with self-employment something that I gladly accept. I have picked my own poison and that is a lot nicer than being force fed. There is no work-life balance. There are choices and they have consequences.

If you manage to properly direct your attention to the smallest and most important things in your life, you could achieve a spiritual age of 500 years even if you die at the age of 50. And if you go about your life constantly angry and annoyed, or anxious or depressed, your biological age will clock up the years much, much faster than your spiritual age. Consequently, it is possible for a hostile centenarian to have a spiritual age of only 50. Maybe you have also had that neighbor who always complained about everything and everyone? Imagine doing that every day, how exhausting it must be! Do note that I am here talking about negative states of mind that are self-inflicted by habits and not by illness. There is a difference between an engine block that has a crack from the factory and constantly running the car on the redline on bumpy roads. One is a choice, the other one isn’t. But even if you do happen to have a broken block, you can always choose to give it the redline treatment on bumpy roads. It is very easy to make things worse, even if you are in Hell to begin with.

Think about this when you move about your day and take note where your focus and thoughts are directed. Where attention goes, energy flows. That’s another thing with dogs. They are very good at focusing on the small things in front of them. On the right here, right now. I find that truly helpful and inspiring. That’s why I want to be around them all the time because I forget easily.