Just finished working in Austin, TX and the last night in town I went to a glorious dog park, just as the sun was setting and the first stars of the evening appeared. I watched a variety of dogs dash around among the legs of their owners, some timid, some apprehensive, some overcome with joy at being out in nature. All of them eventually just gave in to their inner puppy and exuded joy. And it made me think…
How many of us need a permission slip—a throwback to doing something out of the ordinary back in school– to give in to our inner puppy? We all know we need work/life balance, and then we typically grab lunch while answering emails, multi task constantly and get way too little sleep. We’re driven to accept our insanely busy lives as a fait accompli instead of an option with choices.
When we aren’t capable of recharging we become brittle, uncreative and irritable. When we can give ourselves permission to carve out tiny slots of time for what energizes us—even if it feels uncomfortable to get out of our normal routine of controlled chaos—it can lead to surprising differences in how we see and respond to the world.
Can you give yourself permission to channel your inner puppy today? You’ll probably shake up everyone around you, since joy is an interesting and contagious state of mind.
