Kenneled

I love my dog.   His name is Marshal.  Actually, my wife picked him out from a rescue shelter - and he is sweet and kind and a teacher in his own way.  In the abundance of life, if you are looking, watching, caring - life's lessons are everywhere.  My sweet dog has learned to love his kennel.  He sleeps there all night and in the morning when we let him out, he takes care of business, maybe runs a bit - sometimes he chases a ball and is excited by the beauty around him - but often times he looks longingly at his kennel and then walks slowly towards it without any prompting - and then looks back as if to ask, please, open the door so I may 'kennel up.'  I watched this the other morning and wondered how many times does it cross my mind to 'kennel up' - to not take that chance to reach for the things that matter most, to take a moment to tell someone they are amazing, or draw a picture of my child, or tell someone close to me I love them.  To engage in the whole of life while I have the chance instead of 'kenneling up' - that is the lesson I learned from my sweet Marshal just the other morning.