Now that I am an Intern and stay at home a lot, I mean A LOT, I learned some important things from my dog. I tend to talk to him a lot and ask him to help me figure things out. Yes, I know he is only a dog, but when there is no one else here it is relaxing. No, he does not answer my questions, but speaking out loud and having him stare at me with his puppy eyes is relaxing and helpful.
Here are 5 things I learned from Grimm:
Love Everyone
Grimm is always happy. He greets every person who walks through our door. It doesn’t matter if you live here, are visiting, delivering pizza, or trying to sell us something. He is a gentleman. Grimm is the first one at the door barking his little head off and wagging his tail. He taught me that it doesn’t matter who you encounter. Every person is a human and deserves respect. It is their choice to keep your respect by their actions, but everyone deserves to have it from the beginning.
Compassion
Grimm is a very compassionate dog. He understands when someone is happy, sad, angry, excited, hurt, or ill. He changes his mood to match yours for the better. When I am angry, sad, hurt, or ill, Grimm is right there beside me nudging me with his nose and giving me the “it’s okay to feel this way, I’m here for you” look. If I am happy or excited, Grimm is right there running beside me or jumping with joy! He taught me that we need to feel each other’s pain. We as humans, should be there for our friends, family members, community, and even some strangers. Grimm reminded me to look beyond my own needs and to help others who need it.
Patience
Patience is key. This saying goes a long way with a dog. Every day when Grimm is not sitting by my side listening to me ramble on about how to fix something, he is patiently waiting upstairs by the window for my mom and step-da
d to come home. He stares out the window for hours and never complains. Once they pull up, he is bouncing with joy by the door waiting for them to get inside to give them a huge kiss and hug!
Patience is a hard lesson to learn. Sometimes it is difficult to wait behind that slow car driving, or the person taking forever to buy their groceries in front of you. A dog can wait for hours for their owner to get home and decide not to tear the house apart. So, I think as humans we can show compassion and be patient while waiting for that driver to turn, or the person in front of us to pay for their items without stomping our feet and getting frustrated.
Be a Listener
This lesson hits home for me. Grimm will sit there as long as I need him just listening. He keeps me sane at home alone while I’m working. I am a huge people person and do not like to be alone. If it wasn’t for this beautiful Pitt Bull, I believe I would go crazy. When I’m frustrated, he will jump up on my lap and give me a gross kiss on the chin. Sometimes when I need to vent about something, he brings his rope over and we play tug-a-war and I just talk. Listening is important to everyone. Every person needs someone there for them to listen to their problems. I’m not saying a dog fixes everything, but it is nice to have another breather listening to what is going on in your life. We don’t always need answers, we need listeners.
Trust your Instincts
Grimm may be silly sometimes and do silly things, but he is smart as well. He knows when something is not right and attends to it. If there is a stranger in our yard, or a bunny, he goes barking. He is protecting his family and trusting his instincts. This is a lesson that I need to work on. When I went through a busy working period, my friend recommend I take a look at dog walkers/sitters similar to confidentmutt. I was slightly apprehensive about the idea but knew he would have been fine. However, now I really think about it, Grimm would have behaved absolutely fine around the individual, proving I should have trusted my instincts. When writing a blog, or figuring an issue out, I tend to not trust my instincts. I try to figure out 100 ways to fix it without believing in myself. This lesson is important because it could help you get work done 100 times faster and keep you safe in other ways. So go out there and trust that gut of yours!
I hope you learned some life lessons from Grimm like I did! Build your community by putting these lessons to the test. Trust others, but trust your instincts as well. Be more compassionate and lovable. Listen more, talk less. Overall, be patient and understanding. When you put these lessons to use, you learn a lot more about another person.
Until next time, have a great day!
