What Do Golden Retrievers Know That We Don’t? An Exercise in Joy…
In this link to a marvelous video, a crowd of golden retrievers has just been dropped off at the local swimming hole:
13 Golden Retrievers + 1 River = 46 Seconds Of Absolute Zen
It is impossible not to smile watching them play in the water. What do they know that we don’t?
They have three things going for them: they really like to have fun, they love the water, and they don’t have a quarrel with each other. Plenty of room for everybody. It doesn’t occur to them not to like each other — that’s not in their nature. A more loving dog doesn’t exist on the planet — and I’d take that to court!
It’s also impossible after the video ends not to wish we — that is, we humans, specifically — could do the same thing. We step fast into ego, not out of it, somewhere around the age of six years.
Before then, we’re golden retriever material…
Drop SOME of the Ego
So much easier said than done. We need our ego to navigate our human, earth-based reality in practical terms and ways. The problem begins when after age six we spend most of our life coping with that ego and we usually let it rule us. After all, we believe (our ego believes) we’re here to win, succeed, achieve, make lots of money (or try to), and make sure the other guy or gal doesn’t get there first.
We can also use our ego to manipulate others in an active-passive way.
AND perhaps hardest to overcome, we use our ego to the extent we become rather self-absorbed. We make friends, but too often have conditions attached. We can get carried away by, and feed on, our own grievances. We can hold onto negative memories with an intensity and tenacity long after the events have ended.
Yet we are here to enjoy our life. It’s how we started out, receiving the world with curiosity and happiness. Goldens know this:
You Have to Wonder Why
Why let that ego rule?
Self-defense? Self-doubt?
It definitely isn’t because we’re sure of much.
We Can Be More Like Golden Retrievers
They smile with their whole body, mind, and spirit. They can’t help it. There’s no self-consciousness, no one-upmanship, no desperation, no competition.
Just a sheer exuberance for living, and for being here on this earth.
An Exercise in Joy
Try this, if inclined: Spend one hour sometime this week letting yourself feel only exuberance for life, nothing else. Think of it as a gift to yourself. If an hour seems too long, try it for fifteen minutes. Or even just five.
If you do, leave a comment. Tell the outcome. It just might make someone smile…
