Act Like A Dog

Living life in a stressed-out state is very bad for our health. I could list the body of research regarding stress and its effects on us as human beings here. Instead I will let that speak for itself elsewhere.

I will say, however, that I am experiencing high levels of stress right now. There are times when I am so overwhelmed I become agitated, my voice rises, my pace revs up, as I aggressively do what I need to get done. And I will develop a sour look on my face as I consider all that I have to deal with. The counteractive effect of this is that I will eventually level out, or worse, experience a period of time where I am feeling under-motivated.

I will also have moments where I cannot think straight, and times when I feel like sleep is the only escape from my problems. Or even cognitively speaking, my mind sometimes just isn’t there. Just today, I left a message on someone’s voicemail and forgot my own phone number. Yes, it was that bad.

I feel like I am standing on the precipice of a life-altering disaster. I think to myself if I just keep my toes away from the edge, I will be fine. But when I feel like there is an army behind me, running down the hill, preparing to toss me over and into a den of lions, I feel there is no escaping my fate. I could go somewhere deep within my mind, and that would solve the problem for the moment.

But lately, I’ve been getting this feeling nearly everyday. I have had so much forced on me to deal with this year that I am ready to just jump, and get it all over with.

But then, what would be the point of the experience? Would diving headfirst into the disaster I am anticipating really help the situation?

I am beginning to think that my approach to life is not helping me out at all. In fact, it may even be making it worse.

You see, I view everything as a problem that needs to be solved. Yes, in fact, it is. Everything is an issue that requires a resolution. And it’s my job to come up with the answers to all of it.

But the truth is that no, it’s not really my job to come up with solutions to all of what causes me stress.

Today, our dog trainer reminded me of a tactic used to train dogs to not be reactive. It’s basically to sit your dog in the middle of a place where they know they would be distracted and keep them in a down position. This way they learn to be aware of their environment, but not necessarily responding actively to what is going on around them. It’s a sort of quiet alertness paired with non-reactivity.

This is exactly what I need to learn to do: look at what is going on around me and even to me, and just sit there like a dog, ears cocked and interested, but not enough to get up and pursue my target. Right now I am wasting a lot of energy running after problems that I have no control over, just so I can say that I tried to overcome it. But I get the feeling this is just pointless.

We know that putting your head in the sand, and ignoring what is going on in your life is not going to help you. So try just glancing up at your issue, and quietly acknowledging to yourself, “yes, this is happening to me, but I don’t necessarily have to do anything about it.” It might just be the best response you could have.

Plus you don’t have to deal with any stress. At least for now.

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