Day 90

I can be pretty hot and cold when it comes to my levels of activity; I typically either want to be at home being lazy and wearing no pants, or I want to be out training for my next running adventure. It’s fairly easy to understand, then, why I wish I could be more like my dog. She stays at home with no pants on most of the time, after all. But that’s not the only way I want to be like my dog. 

Truthfully, I wish I could get half as excited about anything in my life as my dog gets about going for a walk. With my trip to Leadville, starting school, and generally being more tired, I haven’t spent much time with Scooter in about a week. After dinner, I read a chapter of my Research Design book, and then I uttered the magic words: “Hey Scooter! Want to go on a walk?” She absolutely lost her mind. Imagine telling small children that you’re taking them to Disney World for a month, and you’ll buy them all of the ice cream they want, but then multiply that by 852. I should have put my shoes on before I said the W word, because she was running around, whimpering, and jumping, ready to go on a walk. I had to fight with her to get her harness on because she could not calm down long enough for me to put it on her. 

I’m easily excitable, and Richard makes fun of how pumped up I get about small or silly things like tacos (and plenty of other foods), having a matching hair bow with my outfit, girly cocktails, matching ringtones with my father-in-law, knowing the exact dollar and cent amount of something I bought three months ago, not losing time on Waze, and Googling the answer to every question immediately, to name a few. But my enthusiasm pales in comparison to my dog, who acts a fool (in a positively adorable way) because she gets to go outside and spend time with me. Sure, that level of excitement is inappropriate in some spaces, but in general, I hope I can approach even the smallest adventures with the joy Scooter brings to an evening walk around the neighborhood. 

If you can start the day without caffeine, if you can get along without pep pills, if you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains, if you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,

If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it, if you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time, if you can overlook it when those you love take it out on you when, though no fault of yours, something goes wrong,

If you can take criticism and blame without resentment, if you can ignore a friend’s limited education and never correct him/her, if you can resist treating a rich friend better than a poor friend,

If you can face the world without lies and deceit, if you can conquer tension without medical help, if you can relax without liquor, if you can sleep without the aid of drugs,

If you can honestly say that deep in your heart you have no prejudice against creed, color, religion or politics,

Then, my friend, you are ALMOST as good as your dog.

-Francis Kong (read the whole essay here)

 

Something that made today great: I caught up with the BAKErs, some of my closest friends in the world, thanks to all of us being on Facebook messenger at the same time!