A step closer to light

Everything around us is continually teaching us something and bringing us closer to our inner light. Even someone as little as a puppy can teach us some essential lessons in life. I dedicated myself this year to learn from everyone and everything around me. It is beautiful to recognize how everything is connected in a beautiful symphony spun by the ever-mysterious Universe. We are continually getting guidance from the Universe and all we need to do is be still to get it.

One who looks outside dreams, One who looks inside awakens - Carl Jung.

Some of the key lessons that I learned this year were taught by dogs:

1. Eating Garbage: I cannot comprehend ever that why does my puppy wants to eat dirt, garbage and leftover rotten food when I give her much better food to eat every day. Doesn't she care about her health and well-being? This made me think that when the Universe has given us so many good fruits, vegetables and natural products then why do we consume harmful food that is slowly degrading our bodies.

2. Chewing slippers: Everyone who has ever owned a puppy knows what I am talking about. Why does my pup chew my slipper when I have provided her with several other chew toys that are much better and less toxic than my slippers? The lesson that I learned here is that we all invest time and energy in things that are bad for us (television, social media, pointless activities) when the Universe has provided us with a lot of amazing things (nature, people, animals).

3. Refusing to walk: Every time I take my pup out to walk, she refuses to walk and I have to coax her many times to get her to walk a few steps and when she has finally walked a little, she either sits down or starts looking back to where we came from. While trying to understand this behavior, I remember and realize all those times when the Universe was holding my hands and trying to make me walk on my destined path and I kept refusing to take action towards my dreams, kept looking back to my past or just sat doing meaningless stuff.

4. Biting their humans: I feed you, I give shelter to you and you bite me, huh!?! Well, this is a no brainer because of all those times when I was thankless for my blessings and didn't care to be grateful towards the Universe. Everything that I have, everything that I know and everything that I am is given by the Universe. Yet, I complained of not having enough, knowing enough or being enough, simply because I didn't realize the eternal truth.

I am the Universe - अहम् ब्रह्मास्मि - Aham Brahma Asmi

5. Sitting in the most disgusting places: My puppy keeps sitting on the pee pads. I have given her a furry bed, a furry blanket and there is a carpet on the floor but nope - she wants to sit on the pee pad. How is it correlated to us?

Humans have a knack for choosing precisely the things that are worst for them - J.K. Rowling

We go where we are not needed, wanted or appreciated rather than going somewhere where we will be celebrated. Sitting in such places only brings us pain and disgrace.

The lessons are long and I still have a long way to go but each day brings me a step closer to my journey towards the light. I hope these points resonated with you too.