Sitting with the dog

Some days I wonder about the family dog. There are very few dogs that I've met that are not food motivated. Usually you set a bowl of food down and any dog will come and eat. Not our Sadie. She is not food motivated - unless it's people food. She will go a couple of days without eating if too hot outside and she might only eat once a day at best. But whenever she does eat she needs to have someone sitting near in the same room. It's her comfort to have someone with her. There are days when you have to make yourself stop and sit with her in order for her to feel comfortable. Some days it's hard to find the time to sit with her and I just wish that she would do what would seem to be a normal thing to do. But then you look at that face and your heart melts a little more and you stop and sit and remind the poor animal that it's okay and that you're here to watch over her.

Makes me think about how often I and we as a society don't take the time to sit and watch over our brothers and sisters in the world. How often am I too busy to really stop and talk with others and hear their stories? How often do I not take the time to offer my time and presence to some one else who may need to feel a sense of safety and security? It's not always easy to slow one's self down in order to do this but I think it would change the world if we all found ways to sit for even 10 minutes a day to ground ourselves to the needs of others. What another wonderful reminder a dog can offer you.