Lessons from Puppy Love
This past week I went on a puppy mission.
A family friend of ours in LA had posted on Facebook that her golden retrievers had a litter of puppies. My brother in Philly saw the pictures and knew that one of those puppies just had to be a part of their family.
I got to go meet the puppies, and a couple weeks later, I went to pick up our little Thea (short for Theodosia) and fly her from LA to Philly. I was there for a week, spending time with family and falling utterly in love with this little fur-ball.
It’s hard not to fall in love with a puppy. They’re adorable, soft and cuddly, playful little beings. But I realized what really seals that bond, is caring for a being that is completely dependent on you. I spent the week feeding her, caring for her, putting her to sleep at night and soothing her. I also helped with the beginning of her training and felt like a proud mama the first time she let me know she had to go outside to poop instead of just going on the floor.
The overall method of training a puppy is to redirect them when they’re doing something negative and give them positive reinforcement when they do something good. You’re never supposed to yell at them or punish them… just redirect their attention and behavior.
It struck me that this is what we need to do for ourselves as well. Our brains will naturally do things that we don’t want them to do, just like little puppies. That’s how they’re wired. They’ll present thoughts that don’t serve us - tell us we’re not good enough, that something is too risky and too scary and do all sorts of things to hold us back and keep us “safe.” Beating ourselves up and telling ourselves that we need to change doesn’t help. But redirecting our thoughts, and reinforcing the ones that serve us will always move us forward. This is the basis of thought work, self-love and growth.
How great would it be if we could care for ourselves and train our brains the same way we care for and train a puppy? With love, patience and the ultimate goal of bringing out our best. Maybe if we really treated ourselves this way, we could fall in love with ourselves the way I fell in love with this puppy.