Your Smiles Make Me Smile

If you really want to get the most out of my blog, it's best to start with the first post written in July to the present since some blogs refer back to earlier posts; but any order is just fine... Thanks for visiting! Now scroll on down to the good news! ~Renae~

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Straight From The Heart

This is going to be short. Don't worry, I talk too much, which equates to lengthy future writings, so I'd like to think of this as the bait and switch. 

For years now, I have become increasingly anxiety ridden over the news.  It began to happen without notice; like carbon monoxide poisoning slowly....slowly....changing the structure of my thoughts from being a happy-go-lucky child to a visually normal person with a consistent case of regular low-grade anxiety just below the first layer of skin cells.  I mean really, if murder, death, rape, recession, kidnapping, robberies, plane crashes and celebrity rehab. can't be found in the newspaper (which I read every day), then we're guaranteed a full dose on the Internet, or by our coworkers, neighbors, or family. I can't escape it and yet, I refuse to become a recluse from society...I would die without my addiction to technology; which is equally tied with my caffeine addiction.  Slowly I've become that angry, jaded, easily annoyed, piss on the world, get off my lawn curmudgeon. It didn't happen overnight, and trust me, if it hasn't happened to you, it will, it's just a matter of time.  Bad news is nothing more than fodder for gossip.  I love that word "fodder" kinda sounds nasty in a forceful sort of way.  But it is really....it fuels our own fears and creates an anxiety ridden society.  I refuse to partake in this negativity!....and then, some ass hole cuts me off at the four way stop, knowing full well it was my turn to go, and so I put the petal to the metal, jump in front of his sporty convertible with my little silver Toyota Corolla which I've nick named "Sassy", and dare him to hit me. I refuse to be the victim of his power trip.   He flips me off even though HE was being the jerk, and my day is ruined.  That's the bad news that is killing me; killing you; killing all of us.  A slllloooooowwwww painful death.

Anxiety...it starts with the morning cup of coffee and ends with my Celexa just before bedtime.  It is time for a Good News Column.  We are drowning in a glass half-full of water when we should be floating with the warmth of the sun on our faces and I am the grain of sand that's going to remind you why life is Good; because when you wash away the mud, there is gold -- we just have to look for it.  And so, with no further adu, I want nothing more than to change my focus so I don't spend my life pissed off and feeling like a victim of the unfortunate circumstances of our so called life.  If this column doesn't empower you, then at least, just maybe, every now and then, one of us will smile because of it.  And so....I write.  And this is the first of the good news...

Today it is simple and sweet....I have two Beagles; Bailey and Lilly (or Lillian when she's in trouble).  I rescued Bailey during the madness of Hurricane Katrina and all along, I realized he in fact rescued me.  With heart worm, ringworm, ear infections and fleas at our first introduction, Bailey has become by a long-shot,  the best dog I have ever owned (sorry Lilly), even though his breath stinks like old dog breath.  Now Lilly, she is young and feisty and definitely not a rule follower, but she is a girl and extremely emotional. She is a caretaker and a bit narcissistic. She pouts when she doesn't get her way.  But Bailey, he's so good, he just sleeps in his own little bed contentedly purring and is happy to follow my lead. Yes, dogs do purr. Oh and before I forget, Lilly was an experimental research dog who rescued Bailey from being an only child, and she has a tattoo in her ear. She used to be nothing but a number, but now she is part of my family, just as Bailey is.  And so, today, I was standing in the kitchen and Lilly began to lick Bailey's eyes.  Bailey is going blind and runs into things a LOT.  Maybe Lilly knows this, or maybe she just liked the salty tears, but either way, for over two solid minutes, she licked his eyes, one after another, back and forth...and he enjoyed it as though his long lost mother was embracing him in her love.  I stood still and watched, taking in every second of this, this beautiful relationship that my dogs have with one another.  They love each other the way people should love each other.  Other than that the sun was shining today and the birds were chirping, seeing the love between my dogs through purring and eye-licking was the best news I witnessed all day.  The world would be a better place if we would just lick each other's eyes.

Sweet dreams and always....GOOD dreams.
Renae