A Day of Gratitude

The first thing Matt did was to remember some of the important lessons Bubba shared with him.

Matt then walked over to the water bowl and gave thanks while he drank some water. Then, he looked around and was thankful he had such a big yard to run and play in. He took off running and was thankful for legs to run and the grass to run on. He joined a few of the other young mutts and was thankful he had friends to play with.

As the hours passed he found more and more things to be thankful for. Bubba was right. The more grateful you are, the more you get things to be grateful about. He noticed that at first it felt awkward to be grateful about such small things but the more often he did it, the more natural it felt. He figured the awkwardness was the result of an underdeveloped gratitude muscle which was now getting stronger.

His biggest test came when a family visited the shelter to choose a dog to take home. They came by his kennel and commented on how cute he was, but they ended up choosing another dog. He was upset and angry, but remembered Bubba's advice and decided to be grateful for the fact that it was the first time people stayed at his cage and didn't call him mean. He did his best to smile and laugh instead of bark and he was thankful that it made a difference. Instead of running away, they actually stayed and petted him for a little while. He was thankful that, perhaps, this meant he was on his way to getting adopted one day.

He told all of these experiences to Bubba as they lay in their kennels that night and Bubba just smiled, knowing that his little friend now had a big appetite for positivity. He was glad that Matt experienced firsthand what every positive dog knows: That feeding the positive dog really does make a difference, and gratitude is the ultimate food for those who want to be more positive.

Matt then paused for a moment and cleared his throat. “Speaking of gratitude, Bubba, I want to tell you what my success of the day was. Well actually it's the best thing that's ever happened to me,” he said with a big smile on his face.

“What's that, little buddy?” asked Bubba.

“Meeting and spending time with you,” Matt said before closing his eyes and falling asleep.