Happy/Sad/Angry

What are those things - happy, sad, angry?

They’re emotions.

Now this is important - they are not YOU. They are emotions. Everyone feels them (yes, even our beloved pets). 

When a pet feels an emotion, it does not control them. “I’m angry!” Says the hissing cat or growling dog. Then it’s done. “Oh, is that dinner in my dish? Yay!” (And they’re joyful). Just like that.

Humans, on the other hand, like to hang onto things. 

Photo by Ric Rodriquez

“I’ve been mad at my brother/sister/friend since 1993, when they pulled that trick on me as a kid.” Or “I’m still intimidated by her. I felt like we were in a competition all the way through high school, and she was in the clique, so she always won.” (I am very familiar with this one).

Let’s examine that second thing - being in competition with someone and being intimidated by it all. 20 years after high school, I happened to see the person for whom I carried all this angst. I mentioned the competition. She looked at me, totally surprised, and remarked “There was never any competition.” We spent a great time together, by the way, that 20 years later, and had fun playing, of all things, GOLF. Which could have been yet another competition but wasn’t, because I finally, FINALLY, let go of what I was feeling.

That feeling of being less than is something I carried with me for 20 years. It controlled me. But all it was, was an emotion. It wasn’t me, a very capable and cool person.

Here’s the bottom line. Humans allow themselves to be controlled by their emotions.

Animals don’t.

Animals live in the moment. When the situation is over, the emotion is gone, and they move on to whatever comes next.

“But wait!” You say. “What about my dog that has horrible stomach problems, and my vet says it’s caused by stress?”

Well, it probably is caused by stress. But is it the dog’s stress? Or the dog living in the shadow of your stress? Our animal friends care about us, and they want us to be happy. If we’re not, they try to help us, either by taking on some of our pain, or by trying so hard to change our state of emotion it wears them out. 

Yes. Your angst can be causing your dog or cat or hamster to act out. Let’s not even start in on horses, who will tell you in a BIG way when things aren’t right.

What can you do?

You can own how you feel. It’s okay to be angry or sad or unhappy or scared.

Photo by Matheus Bertelli

Once you’ve allowed yourself to admit it, though, the next thing to do is let it go. The more you roll something around in your head, the more it will eat at you. This is true for the good things as well as the bad. Life is a series of ups and downs. Get on that roller coaster and ride.

Life is NOW. Our animals friends know how to live life to the fullest. When they sleep, they are all-in. When they’re chasing that ball or piece of string, there is nothing else - nothing but the object, and the chase. They milk every moment of their life for whatever is there.

They have a lot to teach us. Next time you feel yourself hanging on to some perceived wrong and find it’s making you angry or scared, ask yourself - what would my pet do? Maybe you can go chase a ball. Looks like fun.