A Puppy Dog Tale of Appreciation_275

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Having raised three wonderful kids with my husband, we are now empty nesters. After the initial glow of being free and no longer responsible for the day-to-day care and well being of my children wore off, I quickly realized that I really miss hearing the pitter patter of tiny feet, cuddling with a little one, and delighting in watching a baby grow up. So my husband and I decided to take the plunge and just do it-adopt a puppy that is.
After a trip to our local animal shelter to "just look," we came home with a five-week old, six-pound bundle of joy that we named Manny. An unlikely mix of beagle and lab, Manny was a roly-poly little boy with short black hair, floppy ears and deep, dark eyes. Seven weeks and eight pounds later I'm thinking that I forgot about pointy little teeth that are teething, potty training accidents and the unrelenting allure of paper-books, magazines, toilet tissue, etc.-that for some reason must to be shredded (and Manny is just the guy to do it).
When I was complaining to a dear, wise friend about the new addition to our family and expressing my fear of having made a mistake, she simply said,"Why don't you think about what he is here to teach you?" (One thing I have learned for sure is not to leave my books on the floor.) Taking her advice to heart, I have been watching my little guy with new eyes. And when I saw him emerge from underneath a cupboard the other day with a dust bunny attached to his nose, I finally got it. After Manny snorted the dust ball off, he jumped around it and then playfully batted it with his paw, delighted with his new find. What I realized is that Manny really appreciates the ordinary. He isn't waiting around for something special to come along and make him happy, he just is happy because everything is a marvel to Manny. Everything is already special.
A lot has been written lately about gratitude, and rightly so. Gratitude is a very important part of the process of manifesting your heart's desires, because if you are not grateful for what you have, it is hard to attract more into your life. But the forerunner to gratitude is appreciation. And before you can appreciate anything you have to notice it. The key to appreciation is noticing in the present moment, so practice noticing, being in a constant state of awareness...just like Manny.
The art of appreciation is a simple two-step process. First you notice something, for instance, your computer. Then you elevate that noticing by focusing on the positive aspects of it. In the case of your computer, you may concentrate on how it is a great source of entertainment, enjoyment or employment. Keep focusing on all of the good things about it and get your senses involved. Lightly run your fingertips across the keyboard, hear the rhythmic hum of the fan, take a deep breath and slowly exhale as you feel yourself happily working on it. Then experience and enjoy a deeper and deeper sensation of appreciation as it builds up in your body. Anything in your life or surrounding you right now can be a source of appreciation. A loved one, a friend, a stranger. Your golf clubs, your tennis racket, your running shoes. Your kitchen, your bedroom, your bathroom. Your car, your bike, your skates. Your favorite pen. An inspiring sunrise. A gorgeous sunset. A beloved pet.
By plugging into appreciation, by noticing and focusing on the positive as often as you can, you will be vibrating in harmony with appreciation and attracting more and more of the things that you want into your life. Complete the manifesting cycle by feeling gratitude for all that you already have and all that you intend to manifest.
As for me, I have to admit that I am not to the point where I am appreciating dust bunnies yet, but there's a little puppy dog tail that I'm appreciating more and more every day.
For us, Halloween was here. Some of the older folks were concerned about tomorrow night, which was really Halloween night. We had been told, "Tomorrow night you are not leaving this house." The story was the same with all of us. There was a conspiracy among the older folks. They had it in their heads to spoil our tricking,True Religion jeans for women, but our plans were already made, and we had taken what our folks had said into account. We would do our tricking on this night, the night before Halloween and forget about the treats of tomorrow night.Our plan was for all of us to get out of the house as quickly as we could after supper. If your folks raised suspicions, then you were to sneak out before supper. After all, what is a meal missed when the fun of Halloween was about to begin?
Just before supper, Wizzer gave our signal then hollered for me from outside the kitchen door just like we had planned. Mom never could say no to Wizzer. I had never told Wizzer about this, but one day I had heard Mom say that she felt sorry for him, what with him being a change of life baby and all. It wasn't my intent to spy on her. This particular conversation was overheard at one of her gabfests with her friend Julia. I was only trying to do what I had been trying to do with no luck at all for as long as I could remember. Namely, it was to see Mrs. Wetzel sleeping and doing something that took some watching and being careful. Just now, they was pitting and peeling peaches and getting them ready for canning.