Lessons I Learned From My Dog

I have no idea how this happened so quickly, but less than a week after the passing of my first dog, Asha, we have another puppy in the house. I think it was mostly because Mom couldn't bear the idea of an empty house with the holidays approaching, especially with Grandpa passing away earlier this year as well. She was born to be a mother (and is darn good at it), so I guess the more life in the house, the better. As for me, I don't know whether I was quite ready to move on yet, but now that puppy is in the house, I wouldn't have it otherwise. I'm still mourning Asha, though, and I think about her all the time. During times of loss, it's probably normal to think about lessons learned and taking the good things; I realized that in addition to the companionship she provided, I learned a lot about myself and about living well from her. Here are a few lessons I learned from my Asha:

• Happiness can be very simple. Asha was the only one who expressed genuine happiness at the mere sound of me returning home every single day and the only one who whined whenever I left the house without her.
• Forgive often and much. Asha was the most forgiving creature I've known. I could yell at her and spank her for being naughty, but she'd immediately get excited for a belly rub, a hug, or a walk.
• Don't get caught up doing unimportant things. Asha was good at reminding me that there are more important ways to spend your time, energy, and love than the Internet.
• Time spent outdoors is good for the spirit. Asha loved to walk outside and run through the sand at the beach. Even though she was terrified when I threw her into the water, she loved me even more afterwards in hopes that I'd take her to the beach again.
• Sometimes you impact people the most just by spending a lot of time with them. You don't even have to say a word; just be there.
• Loving others means accepting them for the way they are. Asha never cared whether I was stinky, sweaty, dirty, angry, sad, tired, dumb, overweight, or not. She always accepted me just the way I was.
• Never give up. If you're a little too heavy to make it up to the bed the first time, try, try again.