Embraces My Happiness Figurines, Angel with Wings Hugging Dog Angel Figurines Dog Remembrance Gifts for Dog Lovers (C)

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Compassion Meditation: This meditation fosters feelings of compassion and concern for others by training you to notice suffering and strive to alleviate it.

I have a tendency to assume I know what others think of me…and I tend to assume it’s bad. Making these assumptions keeps me from knowing the truth about how others actually see me. It also denies the support and encouragement they try to give me. One instance that suggests stress and tension can be contagious in both directions involves leash reactivity: If your dog barks, growls, or lunges at other dogs, people, or cars while you’re walking him or her on a leash, you might feel embarrassed or stressed out, which can cause you to tense up and exacerbate your dog’s fear and anxiety. This in turn “can be a trigger for the dog doing it again,” Udell says, which can lead to an unfortunate cycle. His words came like thunder. It was a wake-up call to remind me how blessed I was and how much I was taking it for granted, as if nothing was ever enough. And there he was, my stepfather, trapped in a wheelchair by a severe form of multiple sclerosis, dreaming of a nice walk in nature. That day, he was my teacher. Gratitude: Count your blessings on a regular basis, whether by writing a letter, keeping a journal, or just saying thanks.While I was filled with self-loathing, my life was focused on keeping others from seeing who I really was. I didn’t like myself and couldn’t see how it was possible for anyone else to like me either. I hid while pretending to be someone I hoped was more loveable. On the auditory front, research has found that when dogs hear expressions of distress, like crying, or positive sounds like laughing, they respond differently than they do to other vocalizations or non-human sounds. When they’re exposed to these human sounds, dogs are more likely to look at or approach their owner or the source of the sound. I use the beautiful bed sheets and the nice towels instead of saving them for the guests, just because I’m worth it.

Hedonists live for the moment and give little or no thought to future consequences and plans. Because they feel unchallenged by future goals or a purpose, they are often unfulfilled. Rat RacingUpon a box containing some fancy collagen supplement stuff, it said: “Life is too short for hard-to-swallow pills and boring powders.” Ain’t that the truth? How many times have I contemplated swallowing a paracetamol tablet, or wearily stirred some Andrews liver salts into water, and wailed in desperation that life is just too damn short for such chores? Never, obviously. But there is no quota on feelings. Feeling my emotions doesn’t take away from anyone else’s experience. On the contrary, it increases my compassion for others. Of course, there will be times in life when happiness feels out of reach. That’s OK. Our unpleasant emotions are appropriate responses to difficult situations; they’re there to guide our responses and help us make meaning from challenges and adversity.

Research has shown that happiness is 50% connected to our genes, only 10% attributed to life circumstances, and 40 perfect correlated with our thoughts and behaviors. That’s why happiness is not a noun; it’s a verb. For those of us who are mentally healthy, it’s an attitude, a continuous inside job. Most of me despairs at the sheer fatuousness. On the other hand, you’ve got to grudgingly admire the ingenuity or shameless cheek of taking a commoditised product and trying to sell it as an object of desire. Hunter Boots (originally the North British Rubber Company) had been going for well over a century before its wellies suddenly became fashion essentials. Joseph Joseph has pulled off something similar with kitchenware. Respect, I suppose. No harm done. Happiness is not about making it to the peak of the mountain nor is it about climbing aimlessly around the mountain; happiness is the experience of climbing toward the peak.” ~ Tal Ben-Shahar

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In a world in which the pursuit of happiness is complicated by consumerism, materialism, and the politics of rage, what can humans learn from dogs about happiness? Embrace contentment. Part of me was relieved to know that maybe someone did actually see how much I was hurting. At the same time, I was terrified to discover that anyone could see more of me than I chose to reveal. I didn’t trust that she, or anyone else, could ever really understand. For much of my life, I defined myself by the ways I didn’t measure up to the person I thought others expected me to be. I didn’t know who I was—only who I was not.

There is a spectrum of emotional connection between people and their dogs, ranging from being able to detect and understand each other’s feelings to actually sharing the same emotions. I still often default to focusing on the ways I don’t measure up. Sometimes I need a reminder of the best parts of who I am. I’m continually working to develop a habit of noticing the qualities I value instead of just looking for things to criticize. In the past, I rarely said thank you or counted my blessings. Today, I practice gratitude as a morning ritual. I focus on what I have, rather than on what’s missing. Just as human toddlers look to their parents for cues about how to react to the people and world around them, dogs often look to humans for similar signs. When their people project feelings of calm and confidence, dogs tend to view their surroundings as safe and secure. Today, I aim for progress instead of perfection, and I enjoy each step of my professional journey, celebrating every new lesson and every kind of achievement, no matter how big or small.To me, being a rat racer felt exhausting. I didn’t know how to have fun and relax. I was too busy trying to be perfect and do everything perfectly. It was tiring, and it made me feel like I was never good enough or worthy of the best things life had to offer.