When I’m out with George, my newly adopted 7 year old Lab, at  0 dark 30 in the morning, I get to spend a lot of time thinking. Though I technically am walking George, he is actually walking me, since he is always out ahead of me, setting the pace and the course. So, I have loads of time to think, and I leave my I pod home so I am not needlessly distracted by it. Here are some of the things I thought about this morning. Probably none of them were original but they were interesting to me as they just kind of flowed through a mind that was uncluttered that early in the day.

1. If something looks wrong to me, I should first consider my own perspective. The moon and stars look entirely different at 6:00a.m. than they did at 10:00 p.m. but they haven’t changed—only my perspective of them has. Perspective often determines our political, social and economic opinions, and others who come from different perspectives have different opinions than mine. They are not necessarily wrong, just different.

2. Most things I do have three phases to them. There is the “I get to” phase, the “I ought to” phase, and the “I have to” phase.  By the time something gets to the “I have to” phase, my options and joy are gone!

3. When I leave my I Pod home, I hear, see and notice a lot more than I otherwise would. When the ears are busy, the mind focuses on what they are hearing. When the ears aren’t busy, the mind and eyes are working much better. Apparently there is such a thing as distracted walking, as well as distracted driving!

4. The more I walk my dog, the less poop I have in my yard. BUT, to have happy neighbors, that poop needs to end up in my trash barrel, not their yards. That’s why God still makes plastic bags!

5. Who is my neighbor anyway? These days, there are no real neighborhoods, front porches or events. We have a neighborhood watch sign at the entrance to our housing association, but we don’t really have a neighborhood. That’s too bad—I remember back when—back when we all knew all our neighbors, what they were doing, and what they thought of the rest of us.

6. Loyalty is a great and admirable trait. It seems to come naturally to dogs, but not to cats or humans.

7. I hear devoted military people say this a lot, “I’m just doing my duty.” And they mean it. Still, they get a good deal of satisfaction with doing their duty. If you want more than just satisfaction, if you want true joy, do something good for another, but something that is not your duty! When we give not out of obligation or duty, we are acting like God, giving without an expectation of return, and that really does produce great joy.

George at Home

8. The mind really needs free time. Not casual time, but free time. Playing solitaire or surfing the web is casual time, but for the mind it isn’t free time. Walking a dog is free time for the mind…….and the dog!