Sometimes I'm just too happy...

So...without getting into too much detail, Uncle Pete has bought new dental treats for me because the other ones were giving me some problems. Ahem. Anyway...

I'm not a dog for treats. You may know some of my kind who sits patiently at their owners side while they reach into their pocket and pull out a biscuit or something else deliciously good! My owners decided not to train me this way. I was ok with it - for the most part - but I do get a treat or two every now and again, so it's a good partnership, I think :)

But 'treat' for me was a brand of dental-sticks. I ran when I heard the rustling of the bag. I would often get one of these when Uncle Pete and Auntie Mell are out and away from the house. As a reward, I get these treats! And DOG they're GOOD!

I would wait patiently while they take one out of the magical bag. They ask me to sit (in Turkish, of course!) and then they've also trained me to roll over...and when they're really trying my patience I have to extend my paw...but it's all worth it to taste this wonderfully-good treat. So good, that once I have it in my mouth, I'm so excited that I run around the house for a good few runs before enjoying the sweet, tantalising goodness! But as I said, all that has changed...at least the type of treat...

These new treats are softer and are DEFINITELY better on my stomach...but there's something about them. Dog, the difference is good, let me tell you! But I do something different now...

Sometimes I'm just too happy...sometimes, when I'm really excited, I'm too excited to even accept what I've been given!

U.P. gave me a treat yesterday. The regular 'sit, stay, roll over, paw' routine happened, and I softly took the new dental treat in my mouth, not really knowing yet that the treat was different. I ran around the house a few times, but this time I did something different.

At first Uncle Pete thought there was something wrong (even Auntie Mell thought my mouth was hurting). I was crying. It was unmistakable. In other instances you could hear me doing this (like, for instance, if I want to go outside, etc.) so this sound isn't out of the normal for me to make (though sounds coming out of me are quite rare - I don't find it necessary to bark like my neighbours - which my owners are VERY grateful for!). But, after I was given this treat, I started to cry...

Sometimes I'm just too happy. You could find me (pictured) finally eating my treat, but for the longest time all I would do is hold it in my mouth, take it around with me and cry. Why? Dog, I dunno! I guess I'm just so dang thankful for the gift! But can you be too thankful not to take it? I mean, is it possible that we are sometimes too happy to even know what happiness TRULY is?

How many of us have things that we have been given, but don't truly HAVE them or enjoy them? We know the person who gave it to us and thanked them. We know that the gift is in front of us to enjoy, but we, like me, can get pretty caught up in our emotions so that we don't actually eat or take what we've been given!

It's pretty crazy, I know, but it sure has got me thinking: What things in our lives do we already have but we don't REALLY have because, for whatever reason, we don't take them for ourselves to enjoy. How many of us have so many precious things, but don't REALLY have them because we never use them - that car in the garage that we just wipe down but never drive, those dishes that we keep saving for a 'special occasion', that bottle of wine that just sits on our mantel for 'just the right occasion'...Dog, I could go on!

We've got SO many things to be thankful for and SO many things that we have and can use to celebrate life with! But for some reason, just like me receiving this treat, I really don't enjoy it completely 'cause I'm a bit too caught up in it.

Sometimes I'm just too happy...that sometimes I don't truly know what's waiting for me. There's even MORE happiness in store if I just dig in, and be thankful for what I've been given!

So take out that car (don't forget to invite me 'cause us dogs LOVE the wind in our faces), crack open that bottle of wine, use those dishes in the cabinet and celebrate Life! EVERY day is a special day so, DIG IN! Enjoy it!

If you keep waiting for the right time, it may never happen. Sometimes you have to make the most of the time you have.” ― Priya Ardis, Ever My Merlin