10/18/06

"Wag More, Bark Less"


I was going to write about something completely different today. That was until I arrived home from work to find a box on my door step. I had ordered some things from a great company called Cloudstar (www.cloudstar.com) for the dog tribe. But what got me thinking was what was written on the box. In big letters it said WAG MORE BARK LESS. As I was carrying the box in I thought, how cute is that! But then I started to think as I was running around letting dogs out, giving dogs treats, trying to change clothes with 3 dog noses attached to one leg or the other and finally sitting down to my laptop. I thought "Wow...Wag more Bark Less" what a brilliant concept. Of course if you own a dog or know a dog you know that a wag means hi, glad to see you, I am happy etc. Barking of course can mean the same thing however, in our house it USUALLY means, stop that, you are annoying me, I am trying to get your attention by being annoying, I am being grouchy, I am talking back...I think you get my point. And then I thought, you know if people "wagged" more and "barked" less the world would be a happier place. A few years ago there was this big thing called Random Acts of Kindness, I see wag more bark less in this same vein. For instance one day on my lunch hour I was rushing all over the place on a very windy day and as I was walking past a craft store that had an outdoor display a big gust of wind came and all of these silk plants blew over and some rolled in the street. Now I had a big shopping bag and several smaller ones when I see all these plants rolling all over. Now I could have just walked by and let someone else pick them up. I mean it wasn't my problem really and I was in a hurry. But I stopped, set all my bags down and rescued the plants in the road first and then picked up the others. As I was doing this an older genleman walked by and said "Young Lady". So I said "yes, sir" and he said this to me, I will never forget it "That was a very nice thing that you just did. Thank you for being such a nice person, you don't see that very often any more". " Your mom should be proud of you." " I thanked him and he went on in to antoher store down the way, but I was smiling and i felt good. Not crabby and harried like i was just seconds before. Now I did not know this guy, and it wasn't like I performed a heroic act but the fact that he took the time to say that really touched me. Of course I did not do it so that someone would say hey good job but I think you get my point. I was in a good mood the rest of the day and hopefully I spread that feeling as the day went on. If we all did one nice thing every day, think of what a difference you might make in someone's life. You never know. So give it a try. Wag more and barkless. I am going to try it!

Thought for today: "We can't all do great things, but we can do small things with great love". Mother Teresa

1 comment:

Krista said...

I've noticed this with the kids. Usually if one of them (guess which one!) is having a rough time, if I can just take a minute to make her laugh or give her a hug or make her feel special somehow, things get much better. It's hard to remember to do that, though, when I'm getting impatient and grouchy myself!