My Dog Maya Is Teaching Me How To Live

Dogs seem to have figured out the secret of life.

As long as they get some love, treats, and exercise, they’re the happiest creatures on the planet.

A german shorthaired pointer named Maya came into my life four years ago.

This was a particularly depressing and lonely period in my life, so I decided to do something for myself that I always wanted to do but never did.

I got a puppy.

Her unconditional love saved my life on many occasions when the rest of my world was falling apart.

Her love was the one certainty in my life of uncertainty.

No matter what happened, I knew I was coming home to this cuddle monkey that goes by the name of Maya.

Here are a few life lessons I’ve learned from Maya.

Life is about enjoying the little things

I spend a lot of my time in my head, worrying about every thing.

My mind obsesses about my goals and what I should do differently to achieve them.

I also catastrophize a lot about all the bad things that could happen and ruin my life.

All this worrying stops me from enjoying my day-to-day activities, which is why I started doing most of these things in the first place.

Maya, on the other hand, spends very little time thinking, if any at all. She is my polar opposite when it comes to enjoying the little things.

She doesn’t worry about what she should do to improve her future or how she failed to play fetch earlier.

She focuses on the little things throughout the day that bring her happiness.

Yesterday she played with a sock for hours and had the time of her life. The other day she found a ten-pound dumbbell and thought it was a toy. She enjoyed throwing it down the stairs.

So from now on, I will consciously try to enjoy the little things. Just like my little angel of a dog.

If I write an article, I will blast some music, relax and enjoy writing. I’m not going to worry about how much money this article will make on Medium, how many claps I will get, or if anybody will even read it.

When I go to the gym, I am just going to enjoy lifting heavy things and feeling stronger. I’m not going to worry about how many pounds of fat I’ve lost that month or how I am not as strong as some other people.

I’m going to let go of all the critical thoughts as quickly as they enter my mind.

Maya has also taught me about radical acceptance.

Whatever happens, happens

I tend to dwell on the past and worry about things happening that I have no control over.

I am currently unemployed, and the job search is stressful. A lot of the job-searching process involves things completely out of my control. My effort is only a minor factor in whether or not I get the job I applied for.

I also beat myself up over my past for not putting myself in a better position regarding job security. However, there isn’t much I can do about that now.

Maya does not dwell on the past. I don’t think she thinks about the future very much at all. She is the perfect embodiment of mindfulness. She has mastered the art of going with the flow.

She was born with an ability to let things go that rival that of any human I’ve ever met.

Playing fetch is Maya’s full-time job. It is her most important task every single day. The other day, it started pouring with rain as soon as we stepped out the door. She was all dressed up and ready to go.

I would have been devastated, but not Maya. She let it go immediately and returned to playing with her sock collection.

Maya has inspired me to let go of the things I cannot control. Life will smack you in the face any chance it gets. Such is life. I can worry about bad things happening as much as I want, but it won’t help me avoid them.

Life goes on.

Well, that is if I don’t randomly die, but then I won’t have any problems anyway.

So essentially, it doesn’t matter what happens. All that matters is that I pick myself up and continue.

If I can’t change something or have already done everything I can to improve the situation, I have to let it go completely.

I can’t worry about the outcome I desire into existence. Whatever is going to happen will happen.

There is good in everyone

Like the majority of people, I can be judgmental from time to time. I don’t do it intentionally, but it happens. This is probably why I think everyone is judging me.

However, the information that our judgement is based on is only a small part of the whole person. People are so complex we can never really understand why people do certain things or act in certain ways.

Maya does not judge anybody. She loves by default. She assumes people are good immediately and gives them a chance to prove it.

Nobody has proved her wrong so far.

She doesn’t care what clothes you wear, how many zeros are in your bank account, or what type of job you have. She only considers the important things, like how kind you are or whether or not you have treats.

So now I try to assume everyone is good, just like Maya. As somebody with anxiety and depression, this can be quite difficult, especially when strangers feel like a threat.

However, I now attempt to give everyone a chance unless they repeatedly prove otherwise. It turns out most people are pretty nice.

Thanks, Maya, for the wisdom you have imparted to me over the last few years.

This sixty-pound bundle of love taught me and continues to teach me so much about living a good life.

With Maya’s help, I am slowly becoming the best version of myself and enjoying the process.