Overthinking and Lessons From Dogs

Yesterday I was reminded of two things.

Unbelievably it was eight months to the day since we said goodbye to our beloved Flo, who passed over rainbow bridge. She was a Staffordshire Bull Terrier who had lived life to the full until her last two years due to health challenges.

As I reflected on so many beautiful memories, I couldn’t help but think how Flo had life sorted.

You see, Flo kept life simple; she didn’t overthink things.

Food, play, walks, cuddles, sleep.

As long as she had these five things, life was sweet.

Which isn’t quite the same for us’ humans’.

While our ability to think in a complex way about the circumstances we create and find ourselves in day by day makes us the most evolved species on the planet. It is also one of the reasons we create so much suffering for ourselves.

Going back to Flo. The vet said she needed to be mindful of her weight and the number of treats because of her degenerative spinal condition, yet she didn’t sulk or take the huff about changes in her diet.

Flo couldn’t think the series of thoughts we humans have when a doctor delivers similar news to us.

A person’s (or dogs) weight is not good or bad, right or wrong, even healthy or unhealthy until we label it as so. Fascinating, isn’t it?

➡️ Try this.

Notice how we take an event and turn it into a story… sometimes with extra colour!

Instead of judging the event as good or bad, notice that when you look at the FACTS
of the situation that there is a neutrality that we are unaware of.

However, when you step back and give yourself some time and space to reflect on the event,
it’s just that an event.

For example. A local store I use frequently stopped charging for parking in the early days of the pandemic as a way to support the local business community. One day I parked there and went off to do my shopping and was longer than usual, having decided to do my daily permitted walk while out.

A few days later, a parking fine arrived in the mail relating to this car park. Puzzled, I called and inquired about it. While parking was still free, you could only park for 3 hours. I had overstayed my welcome and hadn’t realised this rule still applied.

Now when I pause and reflect, it isn’t good or bad. Right or wrong. Fair or unfair. It just is what happened.

Hm. …………Food for thought!

Taking time to ‘pause’ will give you leverage over your thoughts.

Are You Feeling Stuck?

 

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Till next time,

Sharon