Day 979

Approaching the ripe old age of 12, Lilly doesn’t have much time for puppies. She likes Gus and tolerates Sam, but will remind both that they need to keep their distance!

Having said that, I came upon this duo in the kitchen. Sam had been outside for a short time (perhaps four to five minutes), but his ears and paws were pretty cold when I let him in. Leaving the room for a moment, I was truly surprised at what I saw upon my return . Lilly had come in and, evidently, decided to lie down next to Sam. Normally, our Alpha Girl would have “explained” to Sam that he was a bit too close. It seemed as if she knew he was cold and allowed him to snuggle. Amazing!

There are certainly times in our lives when we find ourselves in a situation with someone who might not have been our first choice. Perhaps you are paired with an individual on a committee or seated at a wedding dinner with people who have been a challenge in your life. In most cases, we simply make the best of things and realize we can be gracious for a short time.

Taking this a step further, how do you react when a person in your proximity is offensive or unkind? Going back to my teaching days, when a child came to me with this very issue, I would tell the offended student that they had choices.

They could choose to…

*Excuse themselves from the situation and ignore the bad behavior

*Find someone they trust and share their thoughts for feedback

*Confront the person and tell them that ‘it hurts your feelings’ or that they ‘made you uncomfortable’

Almost every time, they would figure it out on their own with their watchful teacher within earshot.

It would seem that, when interacting with someone who is not your first choice, kindness can prevail until you move on and away. If not, you can always give a little “Lilly Growl’ and they might choose to move on themselves… hopefully pondering their wayward ways!