Good morning from your favorite yoga-dog, Tiki! This week I learned a lesson about perseverance and in the process got a nice surprise!

You see, the other day my mommy brought home a new toy for me. At first, this crazy thing just seemed like a lot of work – I gave it a good bite and it wouldn’t crack open. But I could tell that if I kept after it, I would get the treat that I could smell waiting inside. So, I kept biting and kept batting it around, but it wouldn’t budge. So, I kept biting and batting it around some more until even I was wondering if it was worth it – I mean, all this time and effort for one little treat. How delicious could one little treat be?

Finally I remembered that this was supposed to be a toy, not work for me. So, when I changed the way I looked at it, I suddenly started thinking of new ways to crack it open, and guess what, it was fun! I was still putting in the same effort, but it wasn’t drudgery anymore. And to my surprise, I really loved playing with it and it just seemed effortless as I finally managed to ease my new toy open. And I was in for one more surprise: inside, I found not only one, but three treats inside – way better than I had even imagined! And after all that effort and perseverance, those treats tasted better than any other treat my mommy had just given to me. I guess all that hard work I had put in made the reward even tastier.

So this week if things seem overwhelming and you’re working and working away on cracking open your own treat-toy without seeing any results, just think of me. Remember that we can choose to enjoy those tasks in front of us, rather than just enduring them. When we start to relax and not just endure our tasks, life becomes more fun and joyous. And who knows, the reward for all that fun work and effort might be even greater than you can imagine!

Namaste,
Tiki