The Boochie Diaries, August 20, Thursday: On Happy Dances & Finding Joy.
Dear Hoomans,
Today morning, mommy and her friend Ms. S had a conversation about how easy it is to feel that one is ‘not doing enough’ to fight the injustices so many other hoomans around the planet are protesting against. Ms. S mentioned that she is constantly talking with her friends about how frustrating the injustices feel, and how she is also voting for justice with her charitable contributions. And yet, she often feels it’s ‘just not enough,’ and that she ‘should do more.’
Mommy hears this a lot from her younger hooman friends: how they are troubled by the thought that they are ‘not doing enough.’
I was sitting on mommy’s lap while this conversation was happening and wanted to say something to Ms. S to bring her a bit of comfort. So, I quickly went off to consult the Rulebook of the Puppers’ Association Worldwide (PAW) and brought this entry to mommy’s attention: Thou Shalt Always Celebrate Little Actions with Big Happy Dances.’
I want to say this to Ms. S, and all the other wonderful hoomans who are reading this: when you take a ‘tiny’ action, remember to celebrate with a Big Happy Dance. Every bit of action you take: whether it is discussing what is upsetting you about not-nice things hoomans sometimes do to one another (we all have our failings), or listen to another hooman express her own pain, or give a donation to a group that is fighting the good fight in an organized, thoughtful manner — when you have taken your ‘tiny’ action, please celebrate it with a BIG happy dance. If you do this over and over, you will find that your happy dances add up each day, and the joy that comes from those happy dances add up in geometrical progression until, at the end of each week, you have SO much joy and love and hope for the world that you start off the next week with an EXTRA BIG happy dance.
Every tiny, tiny action counts. According to the PAW Rulebook, every little tail wag, butt wiggle, rolling on the carpet, and doing the zoomies (running around the apartment like a silly pupper) counts. Every dollar counts, and every minute you give to listen, and speak your frustration counts. We puppers don’t value activity as ‘big’ or ‘small,’ as ‘enough’ or ‘not enough.’ The PAW Rulebook is very clear on this: the ‘tiny’ acts are worth exactly as much tail wags as the ‘big’ acts.
So, if you have the feeling that you ‘aren’t doing enough’ or that you ‘should’ do more, remember the PAW rule: jump off your chair and do a happy dance right after you have taken an action. Add to the joy of the world. Every. Single. Time. Feel in your soul and your heart how much the happy dance grows your feeling of accomplishment and participation, of being present in the moment, and the utter thrill of knowing that you did SOMEthing! Then, out of the sheer joy of of it all, happy dance some more!
Here’s a big tail wag and a kiss. Mommy bought me peppermint-taste teeth-cleaning chews, which I love. So, I’m sending you an extra fragrant kissy!!! And then I’m going to go prance around the living room for a few minutes and watch mommy laugh and light up with joy. Because, as you very well know, Joy is a MUST!!!
With all my love to you lovely, lovely hoomans,
Boochie the NJ Pupper. 🐾🐾
AlkaDevika Project Solutions (ADPS), LLC. 