My dog is a role model for optimism

Generally, whenever I get ready to let my dog, Sparky, out the back door to the yard, she has her nose in the crack of the door and is ready to move the moment the door opens wide enough to get out. She seems always to be thinking, “There could be something out there that’s going to be very fun to chase. Maybe a cat, maybe a squirrel, but something.” And she never seems concerned that the big dog next door might have gotten over the fence again and could be out there waiting for her.

When the door opens, she is gone, almost instantly, to the back fence to see what might be there. Most of the time there isn’t anything to chase. Still, she knows that every time the door opens, there just might be. When she comes back in the house, she always checks the front door, just in case someone might have left it open so she could go for an exhilarating run off the leash. She would never pass up an opportunity to do that.

Is some fantastic opportunity going to present itself to me every time I go out my front door? Probably not. However, if I go through the day thinking something great might be just around the corner, which is similar to the way Sparky – who, by the way, is actually an idiot – thinks, I’m going to be much more ready when an opportunity arises than I would be just moping through the day.