It never fails, my friend Murray is always happy to see me.
Every morning, Murray is the first one greet me, and every night, he's the last person to say good night. He's usually so excited to see me, he jumps up and down, which usually I might find a bit excessive, but in his case, I'm okay with it.
Murray never seems to be in a bad mood about his day, no matter how unproductive or productive it may have been, and he's never hurt when I tell him he can't have any of my food. He lives a pretty simple life, only eating one kind of food and drinking only water, and he doesn't seem to mind sleeping on the same old blanket every single night. His favorite possession is a stuffed animal, and as long as he has that and is sitting in the presence of another human being, he's completely content. It doesn't hurt his feelings when I shut the door in his face, and it doesn't even seem to bother him when I tell him he needs to chill out. He just keeps doing his thing and being his happy self.
I think there's a lot I can learn from my friend Murray, and the funny thing is, Murray is a dog (disclosure: photo above is not Murray).
I'm not sure if you've every noticed, but it seems like 99% of the time, dogs are happy. Their tails are wagging, their tongues are out and all they wanna do is be around you. I don't know how they do it. Minus the times when they're in trouble, scared or sick, there doesn't seem to be a sad bone in their body. Sure, they may possibly lack the emotional range of human beings, but I still think there's something to learn from the happiness that dogs carry.
Dogs' happiness toward others isn't dependent on what you said or did to them earlier in the day or if you shut the door in their face because you got tired of throwing the ball for them. They forgive and forget easily and move on to the next thing. It's outstanding. For instance, I can tell Murray to chill out, go to my room and shut the door in his face after he's been sitting in the house all day by himself just waiting for my roommate or I to get home, and the moment I open the door again he's sitting there, tail wagging, completely ecstatic to see me again. If I walked into my house and had a friend or family member sitting there who had been there all day by themselves, and they jumped up with a smile, eager to see me and be around another person for a little while, and the only thing I said to them before walking to my room and closing the door was 'chill out,' they would think I was the biggest jerk ever and probably have their feelings hurt. Dogs aren't like that. They're forgiving and all-around happy.
I think we could all stand to be a little bit more like dogs- not in a way that we smell like them or have breath like them, but in a way that's always eager, always forgiving and always greeting others with joy. Too often, it's too easy to approach the day with apathy, too easy to hold grudges and too easy to greet one another with a grumbled, "Hi. . ." and move on to the next thing in the day, rather than being excited to see and interact with one another. We should all take notes from our furry friends and learn to look at life and others with happiness. Dogs may have fleas, but they're doing something right when it comes to putting a smile on people's faces.
-Cliff
Cliff's Note: "Be eager. Forgive. Be happy." - My friend Murray