Day 1556

Happy National Dog Day! We celebrate teachers, mothers/fathers, presidents, pie, historical people/events and most everything under the sun…why not dogs?

One of the beautiful things about this day is that dogs don’t even know it’s their day! They simply go about their usual routine and expect nothing in their honor. Totally oblivious to their incredible impact on the lives of those humans around them, they simply continue to be wonderful without giving it a second thought.

In my quest to become more dog-like in life, I question my own motives now and then and put them to the test. Do I expect recognition and rewards for the things I do? To be honest, I don’t think I would have been an educator for almost 40 years if a paycheck was not part of the deal. There are other things I choose to do and look forward to a thank you or some kind of acknowledgement here or there. It is always good to hear that people enjoy my books, but I would write them anyway. The rest of my routines, habits and offerings seem to fall into another category. I make my life choices because, making others happy gives me the reward of warming my own heart…the best payment of all.

People will often ask me how much I get paid for visiting with my Therapy Dogs. My earlier simplistic responses were in regard to it being a volunteer job with no pay. Now, my answer is different.

My pay is not monetary but in simply being able to help people smile when they are sad or forget about their pain or loneliness for a few moments. The “payment” comes when I look into the eyes of those we visit and see a glimmer of joy as they pet the dogs. It shows up when someone tells us we made their day so much better.

In so many ways, our rewards are nebulous, but our greatest pay is the feeling we get in our hearts when we connect deeply with a person on a visit. I can tell the Goldens feel that warmth as well.

So, on National Dog Day, I feel grateful for all those four-legged pups who don’t even know they are being celebrated and go about their day, like any other, just being wonderful!