Tuesday, January 24, 2006

life lesson

As I jogged up the driveway I was greeted by his eager, expectant face in the window. He had been concerned as to my well being, and his eyes showed visible relief at the sight of me. His ears flattened as our eyes locked. Eight months old, he has just developed the ability to catapult himself off the floor onto the table so that he can view the outdoors. This requires Herculean effort and is reserved for critical situations like my absence.

Flattered by his worry, I decided reward him. I opened the front door and allowed him to bolt. Not bothering with the stairs, he launched himself off the top step and sailed to the ground, spreading legs as wings, landing with the grace of a four-legged gymnast. Without skipping a beat he raced into the park and initiated a full-fledged investigation of the grounds.

Joyous and free, ecstacy in motion, he pranced and danced among the rose bushes and trees, stopping to sniff at whatever he fancied. Then he'd take off, full speed ahead, basking in the power of his perfectly functioning skeletal-muscular system, running like blazes because he could. He was proud to be himself; in fact, he was elated to be alive, clearly thrilled by the wondrous world in which he romped. The squirrels escaped into their trees just in time, but it was all about the chase after all.

Marvelling at this virtuosic display of joie de vivre, I thanked my teacher with a hunk of Braunschweiger.

11 comments:

Sideways Chica said...

Can't think of the philosopher just yet, but this wise person once said (and I paraphrase)..."Man is the only animal who needs to be "motivated" to survive." Definitely words to "live" by.

Here's to joie de vivre...

Ciao, Teri

DTclarinet said...

Wonderful post about exuberance, and you know how much I like to meditate on that! A good lesson we can learn from, or at least try.

Pets are good teachers.

B.S. said...

Hi Teri! I'm always looking for reasons, and of course I've been wondering for quite some time why this particularly challenging Chihuahua has made his way into my life. This post was an attempt to answer the question. Life itself, with its many attendant wonders, is all the motivation he needs.

B.S. said...

Hi Garnet! Right now Mr. Exuberance is insisting on playing fetch, ad infinitum, with his favorite dolly (and me). Maybe he needs another adventure in the park...

Priyamvada_K said...

I could picture the whole thing. Exuberance is infectious, isn't it :)? Thanks for the uplifting post.

Priya.

"ME" Liz Strauss said...

Excellent post. The life, the energy,it only made me smile. I could feel you falling over with the joy of being loved.

Sideways Chica said...

Dear Betty...wondered if you left a comment for me earlier on my site. For some reason blogger is acting up and spitting out comments - especially this morning. Let me know if you did, as I am trying to see how serious the problem is.

If you didn't leave a comment, then why the heck not? (smiling - no scratch that, I'm grinning)

Ciao for now...

B.S. said...

Priyamvada_k,
Yes, thank heavens that such exuberance is infectious. I can't get enough of it!

B.S. said...

Liz,
Thank you. Your posts so often do the same for me.

B.S. said...

Hey Teri! Yeah, I know about that problem. I'll come back and try again!

Shankari said...

exuberance was the word I need to say! Glad that life has been kind enough to you to have such boundless exuberance and then to share it with us!