Life Lesson to Learn from a Golden named Babs

If only I could be more like my golden Babs, if only we all could be more like this dog .

Babs is thankful for everything and she shows it.

Every morning this is what unfolds in our house.

She comes to our bedside, places her head on the bed, her soft little fuzzy lips press up against your cheek all the while the tip of her tail is whacking the side of the bed to create a sweet noise that makes you smile before you have even opened your eyes.

Something this dog will do that no other has ever agreed to; if I am not ready to get up, I simply whisper, go back to bed and she does it! Literally walks back to her bed, climbs in and goes to sleep.

Once I agree to get up she has a plan, but first she leans against you and lets you give your first rub of the day because she knows how important they are.

To the kitchen, no potty breaks for this dog before breakfast, straight to the dining bowl.  I grab the scoop and walk to the pantry, she stands in the door wagging, batting those long eyelash watching my every move.

One scoop in the bowl as she stands back and lets me pour, I step away and she oh so politely walks to her bowl and consumes it in about 30 seconds.

Now a potty break is in order, she goes and stands in the hall and stares at me, as I walk towards her she wags her tail, before going out, she thanks me for her delicious breakfast.

After powdering her nose, to the hill. The little hill is in front of my work building and is her favorite spot. Faces southeast so gets the sun first thing in the morning and she is elevated above everything else.

First she plunks down and then rolls and does some back scratching. Then she starts her stretching. Something I could definitely learn from her, she is quite a stretcher.

Then she pops up and heads to the back door, time for the highlight of her morning, the banana. Babs has a banana each morning once she returns from her potty break. I greet her at  the back door with banana in hand with the peel on.

She gently takes it in her mouth and proceeds to parade around the house wiggling so much it looks like she is going to break right in half all the time talking in a very sweet quiet voice that seems to be in rhythm with her wiggling.

She goes to find Steve and proceeds to wiggle even harder if possible and dances for a while until she finally sits down in front of him. She still isn’t ready to hand the nanner over to be peeled, so she turns her head away a couple of times. After a bit of discussion between her and Steve, she gives it to him for the big moment.

He peels the slimy banana and she takes bites. Both parties are pretty happy, her making pig like noises as she gobbles and him giggling at her.

Once done, he hands her the peel with the words, go find her. She comes to where I am, still wiggling with the peel hanging from her mouth and we walk to the trashcan together,

She hands over the peel to go in the trash and we walk to the cookie bowl together, one for such a performance.

So before we have even had coffee or much communication between peoples, this little dog in her total abandonment of pride shows just how thankfully she is to wake up to another day, to have the gift of breakfast, to be able to walk outdoors and bask in the sun, and to be so thankfully for a small yellow gift we know s a banana.

The lesson to be learned here is that she does this every morning no matter  what happen the day before. Each day is new to her and she doesn’t carry any baggage from the day, week or year before.

She does this day after day after day, a perfect example.

I was given a plate years ago that says “I wish I could be half the person my dog thinks I am”, but my goal is simpler than that. I just want to be more like my dog.

Happy New Year! (- and really make it new!!)

Lisa Z