Trying to Live More Like Ziggy

I have a dog. Yes this is one of the only times you'll catch me calling him a dog. He's more like my baby and I, very often, refer to him as a person (which Neal likes to point out to me) I absolutely am completely in love with this little guy! Today while I was walking him around the neighborhood it kind of dawned on me that Ziggy really does have it made in the shade. Don't get me wrong, I know he's spoiled but I'm not really talking about that. I'm talking about all the other things that he's got going on. There' a lot that we, as humans, can learn from Ziggy.

1) There's absolutely nothing better than a good nap!
I mean have you seriously ever watched a dog sleep. They don't have a care in the world. They're not tossing and turning while their minds are running over all the things they should be doing. They are right there in the moment....and forget about time. If Ziggy feels like it's time for a nap, then it's time for a nap! I know most of us, myself included, that happen to have one of those rare days when a nap is actually possible feel like it's the last thing we need to do...I mean come on..there's a laundry list of chores or things we could get done. Who has time for naps? But maybe, just maybe we should embrace those little moments and allow ourselves to indulge....take that nap...the dishes can wait!

2) Exercise is supposed to be fun!
Ziggy doesn't run around the backyard chasing a big rubber ball because it's good for his health. He does it cause it's a blast! To him nothing is more exciting then getting a chance to chase that ball....except for maybe swimming. :) This is probably the main reason why I CrossFit. Yesterday at Pin Up CrossFit, we did a WOD that involved 5 sets of 10 "wall walks" which requires you to lay on your stomach with your feet touching a wall and then walk your feet up the wall and your hands back until you are in a full handstand! Yeah it was tough...yeah I sweated my face off...but you know what..it was kind of fun! This past Saturday at CrossFit Katy, they had a medicine ball relay where members of each team took turns tossing the med ball as far as they could and then ran to get it to be the first team to cross the finish line! What other workout routine lets you have built in fun like that? It sure beats the hell out of blindly running on a treadmill.

3) Love should be unconditional
Every time I come home, even If I've just walked down the street to the mailbox, Ziggy greets me like he hasn't seen me in years! Even if I were to take away his favorite toy, make him sleep on the couch (gasp!) or never give him another scrap of table food....he would still love me like that. He doesn't care if I haven't slept, my clothes are a mess, I'm stressed to no end, I look like hell...doesn't matter, he will always love me like that and that is truly an incredible thing. If only we could all love as unconditionally as Ziggy.

So I guess this post is a little random but sometimes i think we could all stand to stop and put our lives in perspective a little and think about what kind of stuff in our lives is really important. It's easy for things to get overwhelming sometimes but thanks to a little black dog, I always come back to where I'm supposed to be!