WORRY FREE!

I heard this sentence on a program the other day, “We’re the only species that worries!” Animals, birds, insects and all other living creatures never worry. They just go about their business each and every day never carrying the burdens of the world on their shoulders. They leave that “good stuff” to us humans.

We worry and fret and worry some more and most of what we worry about never happens anyway. We prepare for a show, and many of us are a nervous wreck. Some of us can’t eat, some of us spend half of the day in the bathroom and then there are those of us that snaps at the first person that says good morning to us. The dog isn’t worrying. He doesn’t care if he wins or loses. He’s not up all night the evening before the show. He’s passed out on the rug while you’re walking around the house talking to yourself.

The dog is not worried about what kind of food you’re going to be feeding him today. He just wants his dinner, plain and simple. He doesn’t care if it’s a holistic brand or a store bought brand. The only time it matters to him is if you have given him a choice. That’s when he may become fussy, but he’s not worrying about it all day. Oh sure he knows when its time for him to be fed, but he’s not worried about if he’s going to be fed all day long. He just assumes that he is!

If you groomed your dog with a shampoo you bought at the dollar store, it wouldn’t matter to him. He’s accepting of everything that comes his way. Only the human owner frets that it’s not an all natural product, or it doesn’t have the specific fragrance that the human prefers. The dog doesn’t care if he smells like fresh coconut or French vanilla.

So one can see if they are really honest with themselves that we do things for our dog not because the dog will like it, but because we like it. It’s pleasing to us……not necessarily the dog.

The dog is not worried about whether or not it’s going to be too hot or cold outside for him to go in the backyard. We worry about the temperatures. Of course, he’ll complain if the weather does bother him by howling, barking or holding an icy paw up off the ground. But he’s never worried about it ahead of time. He’s just reacting to his circumstances.

If worrying hasn’t changed the fact that we can’t afford a more expensive handler, a holistic dog food, a fragrant shampoo, a bigger van to hold more dog crates, why do we do it? Wouldn’t we enjoy the dog shows better, accept what we can afford and sleep a heck of a lot better if we didn’t worry so much? I don’t know anyone that worries all the time that is a happy person. They may be a sicker person, but not a happier person!

We worry if our new litter will produce a new “star.” We worry about our dog’s health problems. We worry that we’re not doing enough for them. We worry about them getting older. Some of us do not feel “normal” unless we’re worrying about something.

If we have financial problems or health problems, then truly this would give most people something to worry about. But truth be told, all the worrying in the world doesn’t change anything. It is totally out of our hands whether or not a judge is going to put up our dog. It’s out of our hands whether or not a puppy will amount to anything great. It’s out of our hands whether someone is going to buy a dog from us or not. It’s out of our hands if our dog gets sick. We can only do our best to take care of something that comes our way, but we can’t do anything about it by worrying. We need to take action and give worry a back
seat!

Just think if we didn’t worry, we could laugh off our losses to an inferior dog. We could shrug our shoulders when we hire a third rate handler that trips and falls over our dog thereby leaving our animal limping and costing him the class win. We could feed our dog’s bag after bag of “road kill” and never give it a second thought. We could wish a potential puppy buyer that didn’t buy our puppy best wishes when he buys someone else’s puppy. Yes being worry free would mean we could take our losses with a smile on our faces, empty wallets and a fellow competitor patting us on the back saying “Better luck next time old fella!” Yes, worry free……that’s the way for me!


From the book: "THE MINDFULNESS AND ACCEPTANCE WORKBOOK FOR ANXIETY"....Anxiety happens. It's not a choice. And attempts to manage your thoughts or get rid of worry, fear, and panic can leave you feeling frustrated and powerless. But you can take back your life from anxiety without controlling anxious thoughts and feelings. You can stop avoiding anxiety and start showing up to your life. The Mindfulness & Acceptance Workbook for Anxiety will get you started, using a revolutionary new approach called acceptance and commitment therapy, or ACT.
The book has one purpose: to help you live better, more fully, more richly. Your life is calling on you to make that choice, and the skills in this workbook can help you make it happen. Find out how your mind can trap you, keeping you stuck and struggling in anxiety and fear. Learn to nurture your capacity for acceptance, mindfulness, kindness, and compassion. Use these qualities to shift your focus away from anxiety and onto what you really want your life to be about. As you do, your life will get bigger as your anxious suffering gets smaller. No matter what kind of anxiety problem you're struggling with, this workbook can guide you toward a more vibrant and purposeful life. Includes a CD with bonus worksheets, self-assessments, and guided mindfulness meditations.


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