Stop and Smell the Roses...or Grass...

So I was reading thru some magazine the other day and there was a small little blurb about how we need to start appreciating life the way a dog does. Now I know you are thinking, 0f course she thinks this way--she has 3 dogs!! (See picture at left) Bear with me a moment on this.

It says this: "One of the best ways to learn to be mindful is to take a dog for a walk. Dogs are always in the moment. They can take the same walk every day for 10 yrs and still experience grass in an entirely new way each day. They're not worried about the past ("Why didn't my person give me some of that chicken they had for dinner??") or the future ("I wonder if my person will give me any chicken when we get home??"). All they think about is whats right in front of them: the smell of the grass, the basset hound in the yard next door, and the squirrel in the tree across the street."

From Be Happy Without Being Perfect: How to Break Free from the Perfection Deception by Alice Domar, Ph.D. and Alice Lesch Kelly.

That is a pretty awesome statement!

Its true too. My dogs think our backyard is a whole new world everyday and never tire of going on the same walk time and time again. And I know my dogs don't worry about tomorrow.

Doesn't all this Sound familiar though?

Matthew 6:25-27 : “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?" NLT

Which if the birds, a dog and all of God's creation doesn't worry all that much about tomorrow I think it behoove me to follow suit. As God's greatest creation, I think I'm going to pay more attention about the grass on the ground and the things around me rather then fretting about tomorrow.