watching my dog during the course of a day and I begin to understand what
motivates him dogs aren't pretending they aren't acting there's no masks or
false facade Michael is a Boston Terrier he reminds me a lot about myself as
different as we are I'm not sure whether it's the fact that I raised him like
this or if he developed his little aliasing Craddock traits on his own I
often look at my dog and wonder if he is living a happy life sometimes he looks
at me with those sad puppy eyes what's a good life for a dog what's a good life
for a human and if Michael could teach me something about living
what would he teach me perhaps he wants to teach me to be patient how
complicated is it for a human to have a conversation with another human it takes
years before we could go beyond crying and screaming to get what we need
to think that we have to communicate with another animal how do we do it
except to be patient we are learning a language of our own a language that
involves sounds and bodies it's more of a conversation of emotions than it is of
context a dog doesn't know that I'm late for an appointment or that I have a very
important presentation coming up all he knows is that I'm stressed
like speaking we begin to form messages through patterns the word treat has
somehow resonated with Michael he's good with sit to come is a little harder to
understand but be patient Michael would tell me and don't get frustrated when we
start speaking in different languages
Michael doesn't worry about his legacy I try not to either but I catch myself
wondering what great works and ideas will I pass on to the next generation I
feel that thinking of the future in this way motivates me but perhaps it causes
me more stressed and necessary why should I feel as though the future
should be my responsibility can't my legacy be simply like my goals to make
those lives closest to mine better there's a certain expectation for humans
to contribute as we're now standing on the shoulders of giants were expected to
lift up the next generation however it could be just as fine for me to make my
primary goal to being good to those directly in my orbit as opposed to
thinking of how I can greatly impact the whole universe
when I was a kid I dreamed of a life where every day would be unique every
day full of new adventures such a life would never get boring but that's not a
real life that's a storybook life where all the dull bits are edited out it is
our routines that make up our lives all Michael wants is to have a routine that
he enjoys and repeated consistently for the rest of his life if you want to
teach a dog tricks you need to repeat it you need to make learning a part of his
routine and so routines are the same for us yes the dog may choose comfort but we
can choose another objective for our routine the key is that we stick to it
what we choose for our routine is what makes up our lives what's most
interesting about Michael is how he takes up space he always seems to find
the most comfortable spot it's an amazing skill as pleasure-seeking
animals it's easy to understand the appeal of comfort there's this epicurean
concept of necessary desire and unnecessary desire
Michael best represents what it means to be happy by chasing the right desires my
dog focuses on feats he lights and comfy spots to sleep in he doesn't get caught
up in the need to rise in social class or make more money to impress friends
there's no status he wants aside from reaching a certain level of comfortable
if nothing is causing him physical pain he's as happy as a nugget Michael
doesn't chase some invisible objective he lives in the physical realm where all
that matters is whether he wants to be on a pillow or stretched out on a bed
when you find it hard to be understood when you're thinking too far into the
future and when you are getting too worried about something you want and
don't need think of Michael and remember that while you are freaking out he's
taking a nap maybe you can use a nap too if you liked this video please give it a
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