The Empty Space You Never Knew Was There

This gloriously long bank holiday weekend just gone, the bf and I were once again dog sitting, however this time it was not my parents’ delectable Miniature Schnauzer, it was a friend’s Beagle. Meet Harry:

Harry - Such a Handsome Boy!

Now I have to admit that compared to the Schnauzer, Harry was a handful. He jumped all over my furniture, left muddy paw prints on my leather sofa and left fur EVERYWHERE! (The Schnauzer doesn’t malt at all!) That’s not even mentioning the walk we went on with said Schnauzer when Harry disappeared into the woods for a good 10 minutes – just long enough to make my dad and I panic that we had really lost him. I could also mention his vile bottom activity, vomiting, stealing other dogs’ toys, keeping us awake at night…but you get the picture!

However, he was so happy to see us every time we entered a room; he snuggled into me on the sofa and generally looked so adorably cute at all times that he had a really calming effect on me. The Schnauzer also has the same effect – and he’s a puppy so has that cute puppy innocence going for him as well.

Both dogs get away with murder and thoroughly mess up my life whilst they’re here but they’re so worth it. As soon as they go I feel sad enough to cry, like someone has stolen part of my core being. It really makes me wonder how I get by day to day without a dog to lavish my affection on and how people live without animals in their lives.

So there it is; the empty space I never notice until its filled. Until I have a lifestyle that lets me fill it, I’ll just keep on dog-sitting as and when people are happy to let me. If you’ve never had a dog, I seriously suggest you go out there and spend some time with one, they are just awesome! x

Learning to Appreciate the Simple Things

I don’t know if anyone else has noticed this but most of the people in the Western world seem to go about their lives in an almost perpetual state of misery. We have machines and gadgets galore to make our lives easier, most of us have more than enough money to live comfortably and yet we are unhappy. Take a trip to less developed parts of the world and you find people growing their own food and living in shacks who are far happier and healthier than we could even imagine being.

It was actually my parents’ dog who got me thinking about this. Whilst on a long walk with my dad and said dog, I couldn’t help but wonder how it is that the dog is so happy yet I am from the same family and spend most of my time feeling so unhappy. Then it hit me, it  really is about appreciating the simple things. The dog is happy because he is loved, fed, walked and gets lots of attention; he doesn’t care when his fur gets muddy as he splashes through a puddle, because it’s fun. He also doesn’t care whether my parents live in a cardboard box or a mansion, so long as they take him along for the ride. So why do I care?

I know a lot of it is about social conditioning but really, I’m an intelligent girl, I should be able to make my own decisions about what makes me happy! I’m not going to lie, new clothes and make-up do make me superficially happy and will continue to do so but I’m talking about what’s at the core. I don’t have to work any particular job just because I “should” and I don’t have to strive for an expensive car if all I want to do is travel the world. Essentially, I think that most of the Western world are unhappy because we have so much choice, we don’t know how to choose so we just do what we think other people expect us to do. What we need is to appreciate the simple things that keep us running day to day and start making decisions that make us happy to build up the layer above that.

Yes, I really am this cute and happy all the time!

 So here’s what I propose I do…I’m going to make a list, (my bf is happy all the time and lives by lists) and really work out which of the decisions I currently live by are making me happy and which are decisions I made “just because”. Then I’m going to work out what I can do to fix those in the latter category and spend the remainder of 2012 working towards making those changes. By the end of this year, I am to be one happy soul. I’ll let you know what I come up with and if you fancy joining me, I’d love to hear what you come up with 🙂 x