Thinking about how to move your agenda forward
Why dogs don’t make lists
The beautiful thing about interacting with animals is, you know exactly when they like you.
The indicators of interest are always honest and often instantaneous. They will hold eye contact, lean against you, wag their tails, lift their eyebrows, lick your face, smile at you, purr loudly, follow you around, hang out by your desk, play games with you, seek your affection, or simply relax in your presence.
It just makes you feel so seen and loved and touched, and in a special way that you don’t always get from humans. At least not with some condition attached to it.
Reminds me of this interview with the editor of a popular pet lifestyle magazine. The guy spent twenty years in the publishing industry, but once it all went to hell during the recession, he decided to reinvent himself. After much soul searching, he thought about the force that was always constant in his life.
It was not people, it was not companies, it was pets. Because unlike people, he claimed, animals have no agenda. Any interaction you have with them is completely pure. Sure, animals may try to charm their way into licking the milk from your cereal bowl, but overall, there’s typically no angle or hidden motive behind their behavior.
Does this mean that humans are an overrated species? Or that there is something pathologically wrong with a person who deems the companionship of pets more gratifying than that of people?
Not at all. The point here is to think about what it is that we value so much about our furry companions, like unconditional love, never judging, the lack of hating and scheming and lying, and see if we can replicate some of those behaviors in our human relationships.
Because we know how good it feels when it’s done to us.
It’s funny, people will often joke and sometimes demean a person by saying, oh, he’s just like a puppy dog.
But that might be a high compliment. Unless you start peeing on their leg.
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Are you thinking about how to move your agenda forward, or how to make people feel more loved?
