Today I opened my computer to find a conversation on facebook about the decision of whether or not to put down my dog, Justice. This dog has been my loyal companion and one of my best friends since I was five years old. Needless to say, the idea of putting an end to her life made me cry. I really can't remember my life before her and I can't imagine my life knowing she's not there.
This weekend at the beach I met a guy, Manuel, from Puerto Rico. We were discussing traveling and different lifestyles around the world and he said that in life there are different levels of life that each person lives depending on location, economic standing, and opportunity. These levels are bad, okay, good, and excellent. No matter at what level you live your life, that becomes the norm. So, if we always live a good life its not seen as good anymore, it's just normal. If you always live at the level of excellence, you miss out because you're at the top and to experience anything below excellent is a dissapointment. He also said that if you live at a higher norm you are less able to see the beauty of life and appreciate the experiences you have.
My life is good. Good has become my norm, so sometimes I experience things that initially just hurt. It hurt when I left for college the first time. It hurt when I made mistakes in my life. It hurt when my grandpa got sick. It hurt when I found out one of my best friends is moving away. It hurt when my family went out of town. It hurt when I left Nagarote. It hurt when I found out my friend of sixteen years is probably going to be put down within the next few weeks. Because my life is good, it sometimes takes me a while to find the beauty in the experience.
Life is hard. It can't always be good or excellent. That is absolutely impossible. What I want to do is change my mindset where I can see the beauty in nearly any situation. I always try to tell myself I can do this, but when it comes down to it, most of the things that initially hurt me, still hurt deep down and I tend to hold a tiny glimmer of frustration or resentment for those things that aren't "good" in my life.
I absolutely do not want to condone putting my dog down. The idea of that hurts deep. But she has lived a wonderful, long life and brought incomprehensible joy to me throughout our years together….and that is a beautiful thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment