Backwards

Fun fact: Our pup Kai turned 11 months this past week, meaning she is officially in her last month of 'puppy-hood'

Kai @ 4 mos - the first day we got her

Speaking of Kai, have I mentioned that she's a huge spaz?  I wouldn't call her uncoordinated, but she does gets distracted super easily.  Her biggest spaz-moments usually happen on walks and runs - something will catch her eye, usually above or behind her.  She stops looking forward, but keeps walking forward, and then runs straight into something.

Scenario from our run this morning:

- Run past another puppy on the beach.  We say hello to puppy, keep jogging.
- Kai decides to look back at the puppy, seeing if perhaps puppy is following us home.  We keep running forward.
- Kai runs into large wooden pole, very startled and momentarily confused.

It's always hard not to laugh at her in those moments; the things she has run into are absurd (sometimes it's me) and there are usually people around who witness it and then look at me like 'what is wrong with your dog?'

good question

The simple answer is, she's looking backwards too often.  

Why am I telling a story about how my dog is a ditz? Because I got to thinking after watching her plow head first into the pole, and realized that there's really not a lot to gain from looking backwards.

Yes, now I'm getting a little bit deep.  Looking backwards is distracting, and usually results in either 1. getting thrown off track and/or 2. Not trusting what is forward.

"Fall" here now has me day dreaming and reminiscing hard.  We've hit a beautiful point in TLV (correction - it's always beautiful) where mornings are dropping into the 50's and it feels fall-ish. The cooler air has me flashing me back to autumns that I've had in Illinois, Colorado, and Baltimore.

Yet looking back like this typically gets me emotional and occasionally sends me yearning to be back in that past situation; back in consistency, and comfort zones.  But the reminiscing game simply isn't very healthy, as I think it takes away from the beauty of current situations. These crazy journeys we are all on has us walking forward for a reason. No matter where you are in life, there is simply more to be gained by embracing the present, and trusting the process.

That's not to say looking back on memories isn't a wonderful thing.  I just think there's perhaps a difference between clinging and longing for the past versus valuing the past, and putting trust in the future. Because if you find yourself looking backwards for too long, you may miss a stair and end up face planting on the marble floor - just ask Kai, who was set on watching the pigeons take a bath this past weekend.

And in the meantime, I'll work on getting Kai to stop with the glancing backwards so often on walks. Although I'm pretty sure that this metaphor doesn't necessarily apply to her - she's always happy, no matter where she is or what she's doing.

The things dogs can teach us.

Cheers friends - 

Kait