Good morning, everyone! This week I want to share with you a lesson I learned while on my walk the other day.

You see, my mommy was taking me on my usual evening walk, and we ran across a big black Lab. This really annoyed me because he should have known that this was my sidewalk, so I started barking my head off at him. He was out of line in daring to encroach on my territory, and I felt I needed to growl and bark at him to let him know this. But as I got closer, I could tell by his limp that he had fallen and hurt his leg. I realized that in reacting to him by growling and barking, I was not showing him compassion. He wasn't walking on my sidewalk to purposely make my life difficult - he was taking a shorter route because of an injury. I was shocked to realize that it wasn't about me at all.

Sometimes, dogs, or even people, do things that annoy us. Or maybe they say something that comes across as rude or short, and our first instinct is to bark back. But we have to remember that we never know what they've been through that day - we just don't know what injuries they've endured. So, we need to think about this before we instantly growl and bark at them. We have to remain compassionate because sooner or later, we'll have a bad day and might need a little compassion ourselves.

Have a wonderful, compassionate week! And just remember that when someone walks on your sidewalk, have compassion for them, and think before you bark!

Namaste,
Tiki