Lesson One – Take time to smell the poop!
One day as I was hiking with my dog, I found myself tuning in to my dog and what he was doing. I began to understand that in many ways my dog is teaching me about life.
Lesson 1: Stop and smell the poop. Enough said! (Just kidding).
My dog (as most dogs) is obsessed with smells. He runs between smells, stopping for the next pile of poop. I got to thinking that he is (disgustingly to us) breathing in life and its many varied smells and experiences.
Translated: If you aren’t stopping to truly breathe in life regularly, you’re missing out. What are you doing instead? If you’re like most people, you’re rushing from one thing you need to do to another, one thought to another, but always ahead of yourself. It’s actually the gift that skiboards gave me – true enjoyment, in the moment, breaking me out of the usual, the often unconscious ski paradigm. As you are flying down the mountain, you don’t have time to be in your head, but instead are experiencing the moment. The result – feeling more fully alive.
Motto of the story: Take time to smell the poop along the road of life, i.e. take the time, not just when skiboarding, but in daily life, to just stop to feel alive in the moment. Breathe life in, feel it all. It’s no different on the slopes. Enjoy, truly enjoy, right in this very moment. Be alive instead of waiting for someday to be alive. Take time to feel grateful, to feel alive, and actually be here. If not now, when?