The Tragedy Of Dogs

There is a poetic tragedy in a dog. It is an angel on four legs that is overflowing with unconditional love for you.

But in the end, we are destined to outlive this love. We are destined to mourn it, grieve it, and regret that we lost it.

This is the great duality of these creatures. It’s a story of love that no other being can show you, and the inevitable death of that love.

It’s a grand heartwarming and heartbreaking juxtaposition.

Dogs are the thing in this world that shows us we need to savor and not take for granted every ounce of the good we have.

Because inevitably it will go away.

I’ve seen this a lot in my life, taking for granted opportunities, people, places, and things while I had them. I’ve neglected and overlooked a lot of these things, so much so that it has not only hurt me but other people, places, and things.

I’ll give you an example of one of these opportunities.

When I was nineteen full of ego, grandiosity, and arrogance. I had an internship at the largest production company in Nashville, TN.

They did the music videos for the stars, and believe me, as a nineteen and starry-eyed teen, that was the last place I should have been.

I say this because I wasn’t prepared to fully understand what that opportunity meant being so young. I was too arrogant and, too self-absorbed. And like many things, I took the opportunity for granted.

So much so that I was the only intern the owner has ever fired.

A story he is fond of telling every intern more than a decade later. Which to be fair I’m sure like a lot of stories of my younger years, it is delicious schadenfreude for any audience.

There are countless examples I can tick through of me doing this. I’ve taken relationships whether they be romantic or otherwise for granted.

I have even yes taken the love of a dog for granted.

The thing about all of this, and the core of my disease, is when I’m not careful, I can fall into the trap of being so grandiose; that I can ignore even the unconditional love of a dog.

I become so lost in an outsized love of myself to see anything good around me.

It’s an easy trap to fall into for me I’ve done it too many times to count.

The way out of this I think is to consciously and continuously stop and savor what is around us.

Stop and smell the roses, as they say.

We need to fully understand that in the vast infinite nothingness of time and space. That is devoid of life as far as we know. That we are here, and we have the opportunity of life.

We are alive to experience this brief moment of consciousness together as human beings, and we are all experiencing this brief moment simultaneously and equally.

Life is a rare gift. It is so rare that the biggest question facing us as a species is if we are truly alone in this gift.

So just like the unconditional love that dogs give us. We must give that unconditional love to life. Give it to everyone and everything we cross paths with.

Because just like dogs, time, space, and everything we love and hold dear in this brief moment of consciousness will be gone. It will evaporate back into the meaningless nothingness it all came from.

To put it in a simpler way – all good things will come to an end.

So savor every moment of those good things. Because just like a dog nothing lasts forever.