MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

Nora, our beautiful, bright, obedient puppy, has suddenly decided to chew everything in sight. We had slowly realised over the weekend that she is in season, she’s hit adolescence with a bang, or rather, a loud and grumpy woof! Not knowing anything about canine adolescence, I studied my Perfect Puppy book in the hope of understanding what was happening for her and the possible changes that may be occurring.

This morning, as the vacuum picked up little tiny slivers of chewed silver plastic, I slowly realised that these slivers were the remnants of my favourite flip flops, well, a flip flop actually. I’m good at making something out of nothing, but these are beyond help.
If this had happened years ago with Mabel (who sadly passed away last year), I would have cried, shouted and screamed … just a bit … on finding my severed flip flop, today it was totally different. I could empathise with Nora and how she was feeling. Her little body was changing so quickly, her sense of confusion, of feeling unwell and on edge. My empathy not only helped Nora but also helped me. The compassion felt much nicer than feeling angry ever will.
It got me thinking about people and how the actions or words of others can be so hurtful. How could we choose to stop, pause and think? Consider what the other person is going through and reflect on what makes them say or do mean things. We can display compassion and know that sometimes there is more going on than meets the eye.

With love,

Glynnis

Ps Sorry, Mabel for my lack of understanding x