Lifestyle

Man's Best Friend: How Your Furry Family Member Is Secretly Making You A Better Person

by Teddy Nuggets
Stocksy

I’m not going to tell you to chase the mailman or drink out of a toilet bowl, but there are some very valuable lessons our four-legged friends can teach us about life.

Dogs know no limits, see nothing as obstacles in their way and have a primitive confidence that they will be able to accomplish anything when given the opportunity.

If the fence door swings open, they are off and running. If there is a piece of food on the ground for a split second, they are already ingesting it.

The point of these examples is that dogs capitalize on opportunities: something we as humans struggle with on a daily basis. We are conditioned to stay in the habit of eating the same foods, hanging out with the same people and most importantly, having a limited way of thinking and perceiving the world.

So, without further ado, here’s what those beloved canines can teach us:

Authentic Happiness

Dogs go through life with their tongues out, mouths open and a lively trot. Humans, on the other hand, easily fall into a cursing and screaming match because the TV remote isn’t working and we have to walk through the tundra in order to change the channel manually.

Although we are complex creatures with more emotions, we all have the ability to curb our anger, depression and annoyance and evolve those emotions into happiness.

Simplicity

Nowadays, we need to be scrolling through Instagram on our phones while looking at Facebook on our computer to get anything done; dogs need none of the above.

Simplicity refers to a dog’s love for its chew toy, a walk around the neighborhood or retrieving a stick from the woods to give to its owner. Dogs have found ways to be entertained without constant stimulation and that is something we as a society have removed ourselves from.

Dogs have been able to continue to appreciate things in life that have become next to meaningless to our generation. We no longer appreciate nature unless we can take a picture and use a filter on it.

We no longer appreciate traveling to places without being able to check in on Facebook where we are.

Appetite

Appetite is a bit more practical, but regardless, dogs will try to eat anything. I believe expanding your palate is a sign of maturity that people need to start practicing, especially while traveling and experiencing different cuisines.

It helps people become more cultural, or at the very least, more culturally aware.

I’m not encouraging you to go behind your couch and see what scraps of food you can devour after dinner, but I will use the cliché saying: How do you know if you don’t like if you haven’t tried it?

Saying Hello

A dog is one of the most outgoing creatures on this planet. There is no greater feeling than coming home to a dog wagging its tail and jumping on you just for the sheer fact you are home. It is a genuine excitement that is difficult to see in our world today.

One of the biggest separations we have from dogs is their inability to have prejudgments. With every new person we encounter in life, we already, upon them crossing into our line of vision, have formed a judgment.

Prejudgment transforms into hesitation and even sometimes detest, which prevents any possibility of saying hello to a complete stranger. We need to try to eliminate these prejudgments and give ourselves the ability to at least say hello to people who cross our paths.

I’m not saying to run over to them and start humping their leg, but a simple hello can go a long way.

Photo Courtesy: Tumblr