Doin' Good: What Dogs Can Teach You About Happiness
A Street Dog's Life
I love watching the street dogs down here in the village of Ajijic in Mexico, where I live. It didn't occur to me before moving here that dogs in different parts of the world behave differently - and yet they are universally the same.
Some dogs are fearful or aggressive, and others kick back in the shade and enjoy the day regardless of what's going on around them. Just like people.
Dogs Live in the Present
Dogs live for the present, even if they were mistreated in the past. When they are shown love, their past experience can fade and they can come to enjoy happiness in the present again.
Here in the village lots of dogs wander around freely, at home in the cobblestoned streets and back alleys of their village. These are not wild dogs, just "street dogs." Others live on rooftops, or roam the streets as vagabonds, dining from the back doors of restaurants or on handouts from neighbors.
Sadly, it's not the roof or street dogs I see starving; it's those trapped inside the fences of the very poor, living on the same meager scraps as the children.
Dogs Know What's What
A kind butcher owns our local town square "carniceria," and he feeds the street dogs scraps from his trimmings. On any given day you can see a dozen dogs waiting patiently outside his doors waiting for a bone or chunk of meat. Chihuahuas and German Shepherds, poodles and pugs lay quietly together like lions and lambs.
I have never seen them fight over a piece of meat; instead they play with their favorite partners or just relax together in the shade.
These dogs get along because they know they have to cooperate for this communal food chain to work. It often seems that for one to be happy, the dog next to them needs to be happy, too. Those that don't get along are driven away and ostracized by the group.
This mutual exchange of values seems to work the same way with people. Happiness involves an exchange of those values we have, with someone who has values to exchange with us. It's not about money or things - it's about each person getting their needs and values met. For the dogs it's food and affection, for the butcher it's sharing his bounty with the little community of dogs he has come to love. We all have something to share, and we all need something.
When we all open our eyes and look around, we find our purpose. It's not something big, it's something different at every moment in our lives. Feed a hungry dog, extend a hand to an elderly person, smile at a stranger. Purpose is fluid and changing, like us.
Living down here in the village has made me realize the danger of the "He who dies with the most toys wins" attitude many of us grew up with in the US. It creates a stress in life much like a dog protecting his precious accumulation of bones. Not able to enjoy in peace, always worried about someone taking his stuff.
Contentment is a dog with one bone.
A good dog can always find a bone within a caring society. So go ahead and throw yourself a bone, and then throw that extra one to someone who needs it. That's how it's done in a happy village.
This post is by philanthropist Peter Tarwid of "Doin' Good," a Campus Coach at 100 Golden Keys University.
Check us out at www.100GoldenKeys.com