Making a Fool...

The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself too.  - Samuel Butler, Notebooks, 1912

I love not only this quote but also the truth behind it. I have a tendency to take things, including myself, way too seriously at times. Not my dog. His needs are relatively simple, and while he might take his food bowl and chewing on a piece of paper pretty seriously, what about himself? Never. Let's face it, once you have to pee and poop outside in the middle of a snowstorm or a spring rain, it's hard to take yourself seriously after that (I'm talking about the dog here—not myself).

Isn't that one of the beautiful things about our dogs? No pretense! Truth be told, they would wish the same for us. They don't care what we say or do to make an idiot of ourselves. It just doesn't matter to them. Even if they did have opposable thumbs, they wouldn't text all their little doggy friends about their stupid humans. And when they go tearing through the house, hit the hardwood floor and go skidding and crashing into the kitchen cabinets, do they peer over their shoulder to see who's looking? Nope. They don't care. They shake it off and move on without giving it a second thought. If only we could do that. If only we could have that kind of laissez-faire attitude. We need to quit worrying about what others think of us and just completely be who we were made to be. Wouldn't we all be just a little happier? A little healthier? Maybe I'll start today.

Pardon me while I slip on my socks and go running on the hardwood floor....