Dog Mindfulness Mon, Feb 11, 2019

I take my dogs to the park for 20-30 minutes every day after work. Not because it's fun for me, but because it's the biggest thing Tucker and Nolan look forward to every day. ("Look forward to" is an understatement. When I get home, they're bouncing-off-the-walls, jumping-up-and-down STOKED).

Ever since I first saw this image, it's really stuck with me because of how embarrassingly true it is. I take my dogs to the park because I know how much they love it, but usually I'm counting down the ball throws until they're tired enough and we can go home. Why is that? On beautiful days, I'm sitting at my desk looking out the window wishing I could move my computer outside to soak up the sun. But when I have the chance to actually be outside with my dogs enjoying the weather, I'm thinking about the next thing - about how I have to go to the gym, about what I'm going to cook for dinner, about what bills need to be paid still. 

Did you know that research shows most of us spend just over half of our attention capacity on what's in front of us in the moment? That means that we're usually not really, truly focused on anything if a little over half of our attention is on what's in front of us and the rest of our attention is on everything else. 

It's not hard to see why being with my dogs is the best reminder I get each day that living in the moment and focusing on what's right in front of me is the best way to live. They're living their best life now, as Oprah would say.

(The only time I don't want to live in the moment with them is when they find a mud patch to roll in while I'm not looking. 🙄)