Wag More, Bark Less

I saw a “Wag More, Bark Less” bumper sticker again yesterday. That slogan always brings chuckles. What a great reminder! How many times do we enthusiastically nod our head at a catchy phrase, and then move on without applying it into our  life? Recently, I am challenging myself to act on wise aphorisms. This particular one is consistently in my face. It’s so easy to find things to bark at. Sometimes we are so busy barking we don’t take time to wag.

So yesterday I wagged more. I allowed myself to eat an extra piece of chocolate candy (no, I did not steal it from my granddaughter’s Halloween candy stash, although I admit the thought has crossed my mind). I saw a task list on my husband Ron’s desk so I added to it by writing down “Kiss Ellie”. We had three over-ripe bananas so I took a break from writing to bake banana muffins. I met Ron for lunch and we both made a special effort to cheer up the distracted server. At the grocery store, a woman was stocking inventory in the shampoo aisle and I commented that she needed strong knees to constantly squat down to stock low shelves, and I thanked her for doing her job so that customers like me could breeze through. Upon conclusion of an ensuing five minute conversation, she said, “I didn’t think anyone noticed how hard this job is – everyone thinks it’s easy. I’ve done this work for twenty years and this is the first time anyone every thanked me for what I do. You made my day!”

Throughout the day, thoughts crossed my mind – random musings that I was inclined to complain about. With heroic determination and will power, I kept my mental mouth shut (barking less…).

This may not seem like much, but wagging more and barking less added up to a nicer day for me and those around me. And yes – I did get that kiss!