I’m back at home after my adventure. Back to my routine.
I walk through the park on the way to the gym every morning. Come rain or shine. I see the same people and I see their dogs. It’s the time when I hear from my children – they all do Wordle and put it on our WhatsApp group. If I haven’t done it or at least commented on their achievements by 9am then the phone rings and one of them asks me where I am and am I still alive? I am very sure that they don’t all want to do Wordle every day – but its our way of showing we care.
Today I watched a dog out for a walk. All was going very well. He was on a lead and behaving beautifully. And then he stopped. And that was it. His owner was planning on heading off further into another part of the park – it was a beautiful morning. But the dog was having none of it. At first I thought it might be hurt or ill. The owner bent over him, patted him, lifted his front legs up, put them down. Nothing. No barking, no whining, nothing.
The man ‘walking’ his dog simply turned round and set off back the way they had come. And so did the dog; happily, obediently walking to heel. The man stopped to talk to me – ‘he’s like that, if he doesn’t want to do something he simply refuses’, he laughed, patted the dog affectionately and they both set off, happy as you like.
What an amazing dog – he was not going to be told what to do. He was well behaved but just didn’t want to walk that way. I thought of all the times I had done something that I really didn’t want to do – scared that if I didn’t then he would stop loving me. Oh to have had the confidence of that dog – knowing that he was loved whether he wanted to walk round the top of the park or not.
I was never confident that I would be wanted, far less loved, if I didn’t concede to every painful and unkind request. I wish I had watched that dog sooner. Now I know that I have choices; never again will I do something just to stop the pain. (But I will do Wordle everyday – if they can then I can too!)
Written by Marion, hosted by Carrie