Every year for the past three years, I’ve come up with a short statement that I want to use as a foundation for my year.  While I was soaking in the Strawberry Hot Springs last week, I came up with 2010’s theme…”Make Time to Be Happy”.

This year I’m adding a nickname to the mix, too.  2010 will be “The Year of The Dog” for me.

Here’s Snoopy.  He’s a Sharpei Rescue doggie.  His military family in Ft. Hood couldn’t keep him anymore, so they turned him into a shelter in Killeen.  He’s been loved, you can tell.  No heartworms, healthy, clean ears and clipped nails.  But something changed in his owners’ lives, and one day, without him having a clue what was coming, his world was permanently altered.

Snoopy doesn’t care.  He’s still wagging his tail, sniffing other doggies.  He’s crazy curious about what’s next, pulling on his leash, looking around everywhere, ready to run.

It’s so amazing to me how doggies just start a new life.  They might be a little nervous about it, a little uncertain, sometimes even downright frightened.  But they put one paw in front of the other, and they just get after it.  Three days later, it’s all good and they’ve fallen in love with their new surroundings if they’ve landed in a good spot.

I bought a book while I was in Colorado recently called “The Lazy Dog’s Guide to Enlightenment”.  As I start my planning for 2010, I’ve been thinking a lot about how I want to be more like my doggies.  I’m humbled by their amazing ability to adjust to change, live simply, and happily wag their tails even when their world’s completely changed without them having a bit of say in it.

We don’t have much more control than our doggies do, but we sure spend a lot of time pretending we do.   This next year, I’m going to work towards making time to be happy, and part of that  will be spending less time trying to control things I really can’t.

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