Barking Dogs Don’t Bite

They say a barking dog doesn’t bite,

But no one asks

why that dog barks.

No one looks beyond the noise it makes.

As if barking were weakness,

as if raising your voice were a reason to mock.

Because sometimes, the bark

is the echo of a scream no one heard.

It’s the only defense

that being learned

while living surrounded by fear.

There are those who grow up

in homes where silence hurts more than shouts,

where tenderness is punished,

and rage is the only refuge allowed.

I know.

Because I barked too.

And not just that,

I bit.

Because they taught me to do so

before they taught me to love.

But it wasn’t malice.

It was unresolved pain.

It was a child trying to survive

in a world that screamed at him

before embracing him.

And I know many still bark today,

not because they want to hurt,

but because they are trapped

in that prison that screams: “I’m suffering.”

That’s why I don’t judge you.

I don’t laugh.

And I don’t turn away.

I just want you to know this:

It wasn’t your fault to learn to defend yourself that way.

But it is your choice

to choose a different way to live starting today.

And yes, it’s hard.

Yes, it’s scary.

But that fear is the threshold to freedom.

You were not born to bark all your life.

You were born to heal.

To speak from calm.

To love without having to defend yourself.

To give yourself fully

without fear of how others will receive you.

So if you’re barking today,

don’t punish yourself.

But I do ask you to listen.

And when you’re ready,

look inside yourself

and ask:

What can I do for myself that no one else has done?

That is the most beautiful thought.

And that thought, with time,

stops being just a thought.

It becomes reality.

You stop looking at the world with hatred

and transform it into kindness.

You stop barking

and start whispering, softly:

What do you need?

How can I help you?

There begins the path back.

Not to what you were,

but to what you always were,

only hidden

by the roots of your environment.

And then, that barking fades.

Because there’s no need to scare anyone to protect yourself anymore.

Because you finally found what is most sacred:

your inner peace. The love for life.

When you understand this,

you stop barking

and trade barks for hugs.

You trade suffering for helping others.

You are no longer alone

in that noisy world,

because you are finally at peace with yourself.

And from that peace,

something new opens:

the possibility to heal others too.

Because whoever once barked from pain

and now embraces from love,

becomes a beacon for those who still don’t know how to silence the noise.

The choice is yours.

And never forget it.