You are listening to the Overthinkers Guide to Joy Episode 29. This is the episode
where I'm going to talk about the 10 best lessons you can learn from a dog. Let's
dive in. This is a podcast for overthinkers, overdoers and overachievers who are
tired of feeling over anxious and just want to feel better. I'm your host certified
life coach, Jackie de Crinis.
Hey there, how are you today? It's definitely starting to feel like spring. Although
I basically live in a place that's warm year round, there is definitely something
about mid -March where there is a collective shift. The days are getting longer, the
nights are getting warmer. Isn't that the lyrics to an Eagle song, like "Take It
Easy" or something like that? I'm not sure. But it's definitely starting to feel
like spring. Maybe because my daughter's on spring break or maybe because she did a
spring cleaning of her room yesterday and for anyone with a teenager, you know that
happens about as often as a blue moon. So I will celebrate that when it happens.
But I feel like I just have more spring in my step. And I definitely am feeling
that spring fever of wanting to go outside and play. When I had my corporate job
many years ago, One of my biggest complaints about the job was how little time
there was for self -care. Now, for anyone who's ever worked long hours, had a long
commute, or tried to juggle family and career, you know the first thing to go is
your self -care routine. Now with 25 % of the professional jobs working from home,
there's never been a better time to change your work -life balance by learning to up
good, healthy habits. My two older daughters just started new jobs last week and are
now both working remotely for the first time in their careers. I reminded them that
this is a unique opportunity to take advantage of the flexibility of their workday
and to make sure that they take breaks and move around and stay hydrated.
And they said, "Oh, that's not a problem because they both have dogs and they have
to take their dogs out to go to the bathroom and, you know, give them water or
treats or whatever. And I thought to myself, isn't that interesting? I remember
people often saying the dogs might be not only our best friends, but our greatest
teachers. And so I thought, you know what, I want to do a podcast on how dogs
really are some of our greatest teachers. Now, for those of you who have read my
blogs in the past, you know that I have a small white dog that kind of runs my
life. Now, originally when I got him almost 10 years ago, I got him because my
oldest daughter left her college and I was suffering from sort of the early stages
of empty nest, although I had two daughters to go. But it was still kind of
traumatic that she had left. And my daughter accuses me of placing her with this
little white dog, not true. But it actually was my youngest daughter who wanted to
get this dog and it just kind of ended up being my dog. And I just didn't fully
appreciate how much I needed him and how much he needed me. My dog is registered
as an emotional support dog because I needed to be able to travel with him back
and forth when I was going from California to Hawaii. And The truth is,
I really am more of his emotional support person because it turns out that his
breed doesn't like to be left alone and they suffer from separation anxiety. The
irony of course is that I basically adopted a furry version of my younger self
because I never liked being left alone and I had terrible separation anxiety when I
was little. So he's basically with me all the time and I think the only times he's
really not with me is when I'm recording podcasts because he has a tendency to bark
at birds outside randomly and loudly and when I'm on the tennis court because he
doesn't know not to chase the balls. So other than that, he's always with me. And
I was thinking about like all the things that dogs teach us every day if we just
pay attention. There's like 10 great lessons from our canine companions.
And the first one is to drink plenty of clean water throughout the day. The next
one is to take breaks and play. Get outside as much as possible,
rest when needed, be loyal, be yourself, be excited when you see your best friend,
go after things that are important to you, do things that make you happy and live
in the moment. Now while we don't have trouble remembering to take care of our
furry friends, we can sometimes have trouble prioritizing ourselves in the same way.
That is, you would never leave for work without feeding your dog or giving them
fresh water, but you may run out the door without feeding yourself or hydrating
before you go off to work or run your errands or do your chores. So why do we
put ourselves on the back burner and not consider what we need to take care of
ourselves in order to take care of others? We need to prioritize ourselves so that
we can show up for our pets, our family, friends, and careers. So what gets in the
way? Well, it's not lack of motivation and it's not lack of discipline. It's simply
a lack of belief or proof that these habits work.
And I think that what happens is, and I've talked about this before, we don't
always get immediate results from going to the gym or eating healthfully or
developing a meditation practice. And so what happens is we just give up because we
either think it's boring or it's hard or it doesn't work. But I wanna remind you
that it's incremental and it's cumulative. When we're doing healthy habits like
hydrating, eating meals with protein, exercising, meditating, getting plenty of rest,
you're building a foundation. And a foundation of not just good health, but a
stronger mindset. You're building a new self -concept. Now,
someone who sees themselves as healthy tends to make healthier choices and
subsequently be healthier. So when someone takes care of their mind and body,
you're also setting examples for others around you, whether it's your children or
your colleagues, your co -workers, your neighbors. When you show up better rested
better hydrated better fed You show up calmer to difficult situations So in this
podcast, I thought I want to remind you whether you have a dog or not Take care
of yourself the same way you would one of your furry friends or your children or
even your significant other But put yourself first. So whether you're a big dog,
a little dog, a purebred, a mutt, whether you have a dog or don't even like dogs,
we can still all learn from them. So those reminders are be yourself,
be loyal, love unconditionally, be playful, stay curious,
and enjoy the journey. Alright guys, that's what I have for you this week.
Thanks for listening. I look forward to talking to you next time. Have a great week
and bye for now. Thank you for listening to this episode of the Overthinker's Guide
to Joy. If you're enjoying these episodes, please subscribe or follow this podcast so
you can always be in the know when the next episode drops. If you would like to
learn more about working with me as a coach, you can connect with me through my
website at jackiedecrinis.com. That's J -A -C -K -I -E -D -E -C -R -I -N -I -S .com.
