What a Dog Can Teach Us (Marley & Me)
"What I really wanted to say was how this animal had touched our souls and taught us some of the most important lessons of our lives. 'A person can learn a lot from a dog, even a loopy one like ours,' I wrote. 'Marley taught me about living each day with unbridled exuberance and joy, about seizing the moment and following your heart. He taught me to appreciate the simple things - a walk in the woods, a fresh snowfall, a nap in a shaft of winter sunlight. And as he grows old and achy, he taught me about optimism in the face of adversity. Mostly, he taught me about friendship and selflessness and, above all else, unwavering loyalty.' "
A dog like Marley can also educate us on what really matters in this complicated world of ours -
"It was an amazing concept that I was only now, in the wake of his death, fully absorbing: Marley as mentor. As teacher and role model. Was it possible for a dog - any dog, but especially a nutty, wildly uncontrollable one like ours - to point humans to the things that really mattered in life? I believed it was. Loyalty. Courage. Devotion. Simplicity. Joy. And the things that did not matter, too. A dog has no use for fancy cars or big homes or designer clothes. Status symbols mean nothing to him. A water-logged stick will do just fine. A dog judges others not by their color or creed or class but who they are inside. A dog doesn't care if you are rich or poor, educated or illiterate, clever or dull. Give him your heart and he will give you his. It was really quite simple, and yet we humans, so much wiser and more sophisticated, have always had trouble figuring out what really counts and what does not. As I wrote that farewell column to Marley, I realized it was all right there in front of us, if we only opened our eyes. Sometimes it took a dog with bad breath, worse manners, and pure intentions to help us see."
Finally, a dog like Marley can give us a gift only given and received by those with the purest of hearts:
"x x x. Despite everything, all the disappointments and unmet expectations, Marley has given us a gift, at once priceless and free. He taught us the art of unqualified love. How to give it, and how to accept it. Where there is that, most of the other pieces fall into place."
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