One of my favorite things about any animal, is that, for the people who love them, life is better! Animals can make people happy, just because they are there. Eli is like that for me without a doubt. He just makes me happy to see him. His love for me is so evident, that I can't help but be happy when he's excited to see me. I'll probably tell you this again, but I really do love this lesson from him.
I'll never forget one of our walks together. We had been out walking for about 45 minutes so he was pretty calm by that point (generally he starts our walks super excited and I'm just trying to keep up. Don't worry Caesar, we're working on that!). Normally, at some point on our walk, we'll run through a series of commands to get him used to listening to me when we're out and about. We were in the middle of our exercises when I noticed a man standing there watching us. Now generally, I'll be the first to admit that a situation like that can be a bit unnerving, but for some reason I didn't feel threatened by him and it didn't take me long to realize that he was watching Eli not me. His smile was so big watching Eli that I couldn't help but smile too. We finished what we were doing and headed in the man's direction to get home. As we approached him, he smiled and told me how handsome Eli was. I quickly recognized that the man was mentally challenged after a short conversation with him. What struck me about our conversation more than anything was how happy he seemed watching Eli and talking to me about him. Eli's very presence just made him happy.
I'll be the first to admit, I don't always make the world a better place because I'm there but I definitely want to be more like Eli. His life makes me happy. It apparently makes others happy too when they watch him. Maybe it's because he's a truly good looking dog. Maybe it's his dopey smile. Whatever it is though, I want to be more like him. I want to be the kind of person who makes others lives better just because I was there. I may not be perfect, but I can always be better!
Thank you Eli for this great lesson!
You already are the kind of person that makes others lives better just because you are here. Your music brings enjoyment to others each time you play a gig, or they listen to a CD. I also know it has saved someone's life. In that little moment in time, even though you physically were not there, you changed that person's life forever, and made a difference in it. Just by being the talented woman you are, you make the World a better place.
ReplyDelete