Puppy Sitting - A lesson learned

Last weekend I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon sitting a puppy for a friend of mine. Her name is Coco and although she's a pocket sized dog, she has the heart of a lion.

After I realised pick up time was too late for us to go to a 'puppies in the park' session organised at a local park. I thought I'd take her to my usual walking spot. A bayside path where, at high tide, the water splashes up at you as if playing a game of 'tag, your it' and low tide exposes the mud and rock pools. Today was low tide. As soon as we were out of the car, she was off! Sniffing, running, tripping over her lead, her own feet and sorting out the mess as quickly as it occurred so she could continue her exploring.

After a short jog (in which she actually out ran me, hard to believe when you look at the size of her i know!) we retired to a slower pace. Coco's innate cuteness and playful personality attracted a lot of onlookers and many children vying for a pat, i stopped for them all. She was first apprehensive as children came lumbering over, excitedly invading her space, but soon she stood still letting them pat somehow understanding the temporary nature of the activity.

What amazed me most was her care-free, run by the seat of her pants, everything is new and different attitude. We played in puddles, ran around in the mud, walked along the sand and even had a dip in the salt water. All the while I saw the 'bayside' in Coco's eyes. The wonder of it all. I felt elated we humans have so much! Sometimes in the wake of a bad day, a break up, health problems or loss of job and sometimes just because we grew up, we loose the wonder of it all. It's sad because the wonder is still very much there we just have to open our eyes to it again. Find fun in the simple things, running the mud for instance, was such a free and childish thing to do, yet i have never felt more myself than i did just enjoying the sea breeze, the company of an exuberant dog and beautiful sun shining day!

I read in Lama Surya Das's book 'Awakening the Buddha within' that we have no choice in today's world but to assimilate all we experience into our spiritual lives. That afternoon, I just took a breath and felt grateful or the many wonderful things in my life, as simple as a walk in the park...