Living Off the Leash
My dog, Baron, is a perfect gentleman on his gentle lead, but the second he’s off the leash, he’s a maniac. He barks, runs in circles, jumps on furniture, howls like a Wookie, grabs anything on the floor and throws it. In short, Baron acts as wild as he can. He runs hard and has as much fun as he possibly can.
I laugh hysterically when Baron does this, my fiancé, Gary, however, gets a bit stressed at this “off the leash” behavior. Baron just wants to have fun, but in all fairness, he does give Gary a hard time. He can be sleeping in his bed in the living room with me, Gary walks in, and Baron will start howling at him, jumping on him, and throwing slobbery squeaky balls at him. And I swear, Baron laughs when Gary scolds him, maybe because he knows I find him hilarious.
Enjoy Life
There is too much pain in the world to be serious and weary all the time. We need to enjoy our work and make a point to have fun. “There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God…” (Ecclesiastes 2:24, ESV). Baron finds great enjoyment in being a sassy dog. And when Baron is at training, he’s all business!
Even though Gary loves Baron, when Gary’s tired and stressed, Baron’s enthusiasm can be annoying. If we’re honest, I think we all feel that way at times. Happy people can seem really annoying to stressed people. Isn’t this silly? People or animals, enjoying life should be an example to us rather than an irritation.
We act like there is some kind of advantage to being stressed. God tells us that worry, stress, anxiety, and the like are pointless. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble,” (Matthew 6:34, ESV). In a 2017 Psychology Today article titled, Goofing Off: Psychological & Physical Benefits of Having Fun, Marc Bekoff Ph.D., describes animals he’s witnessed just having fun. He goes on to explain the physical and psychological benefits of goofing off. The article makes it clear, that animals know how to relieve and ward off stress.
Health Benefits to Living Off the Leash
So, both God and science agree that going “off the leash” is good for our health – both people and animals. Gary and I attended his great nephews’ birthday party recently. The children’s endless energy fascinated me. They made a deliberate effort to have fun. Everyone joked that they wish they had that much energy. I commented that I believe stress is the reason adults are always too tired to have fun. Toddlers have no stress. But as Baron loves to prove every day, if we just have fun, the stress recedes.
Everyone is so busy these days. We can’t possibly do everything on our ‘to do’ lists. But we get upset if a task takes longer than the time we allotted. Life is full of unexpected delays, setbacks, and detours. Maybe instead of getting all bent out of shape when life whips out a plot twist, we should expect it and look forward to the alternate journey.
Leash the Anger
Getting angry is a stress amplifier and a huge time waster. I can’t be the only one who has let anger prevent me from getting a task done. Or let anger make the job more difficult than necessary. Anger never helps.
Several months ago, I was trying to take a shoe rack out of my closet. I had assembled the rack inside the closet because it was only an inch smaller than the width of the closet. Still, I tried to pull the rack out in one piece because I was in a hurry. I scratched the wall and got mad. So, I began forcefully yanking the rack apart, (because clearly, it was the rack’s fault). I ended up smacking my hand on the wall, then cut my hand with one of the pieces. My anger made the job take way longer, caused me physical injury, and ruined my mood. Naturally, Baron tried to show me the right attitude by stealing shoes and running off with them.
Embrace Time Off the Leash
Obviously, every minute of every day can’t be wild fun. However, we can choose to be mindful of what we have to do. We can take pride and enjoyment in our work. We can appreciate and respect the differences in others and realize that everyone is doing their best. Some people stress everything substantially more than the rest of us. This indicates a lack of faith in themselves, God, or both, and they are not very pleasant to be around.
Some people take on too much and become overburdened, overwhelmed, and under-joyed. I find myself in this group often and I know it is my own fault most of the time. I need to learn to say, “No,” more when I don’t have time to help. Sometimes, we struggle to get out from under an unexpected load dump. In these situations, remember that we can only do so much, we can only work so fast, and we have to take care of ourselves.
Life is a balancing act and prioritizing, planning, and organization are crucial. Just remember, while planning and running around, you need to take time to run off the leash for a while. Even a few minutes will help to clear your head, calm you down, and lift your mood. This will make you perform better. If anyone condemns your choice to enjoy recreation and amusement time, just tell them you are obeying God’s command. “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it,” (Psalm 118:24, ESV).
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