The Five Steps to a Smiling Habit
Hi furriends! Before we get into our topic, I want to give a big shout out to my new furriends at Mattie + Margot, the very best in dogwear, for inviting me to share my paw-story with their audience. You can check my story out on their website (link shared below).
When I started this blog, it was meant to inspire and support dogs and their hoomans going through similar struggles as the ones Mom and I had. But I wasn’t sure if anyone would even read it. This is why I was super excited to learn that others like what I share and want to learn more about my journey.
Today, as I was starting my morning doga routine feeling blessed for the great experiences Mom and I are living together, I realized that our good life started with creating good habits.
Hoomans, just like dogs, are all about habits and routines. Without my routine, I feel confused and become anxious. The same happens to hoomans. Although hoomans are very skilled at faking their emotions and pretending that everything is cool, the truth is that breaking routines also make hoomans feel confused and anxious.
What I find tricky about life is that in order to grow and become better versions of ourselves, we need to constantly evolve, sometimes creating extreme life changing moments which break all of our old habits.
Knowing that changing habits creates discomfort, but understanding that this discomfort is necessary to evolve, how do you avoid the feeling of confusion and anxiety in the process?
Well, luckily Mom learned the formula a while ago, otherwise we’d have been in a loony bin by now! :-)
The training tricks are, the “Feeling of Gratitude” and “Locking a Memory”.
Ask your hooman to try these five steps for at least one straight week and let me know how it goes.
1. Wake up 20 minutes earlier than usual. Write it down in your calendar and set your alarm the night before.
2. Drink a glass of water, adding lemon to if you like. You can also light a candle or play soft nature sounds or other relaxing music if you have the time.
3. Write down 5 reasons you are grateful for your dog. Keep it simple, most importantly focusing on the feelings these moments brought to your life.
4. Write down 5 reasons you are grateful for your hooman life. You can mix personal and business lives, again keeping it simple and focusing on the feeling of gratitude.
5. Close your eyes and remember ONE moment where your dog brought a Big Smile to your face. Keep this image for at least 5 minutes, live it and feel it as if it’s happening right now. If your dog is lying next to you even better!
That’s it! Practice this with your hooman every morning for a month to turn it into a new habit. If you ever miss a day, don’t feel bad, just get back to it the following morning. Just like learning a new puppy trick, it takes consistency to enjoy the results.
Now, next time you and your hooman are struggling through some stressful life-changing moments, ask your hooman to close their eyes and find that memory they locked of you. I’m sure it will bring back that Big Smile to their face.
This is the secret to being able to smile regardless of your current circumstances or environment. And when our hoomans smile, the whole world around us shines.
Love & Paws,
Monchi
