I Discussed Life With a Dog and a 3-Year-Old. One Got Me a Ball, and the Other Made Me Monkey

Oh, the things we do

Things are getting weirder by the day. Coming back to senses, if we might call it that. Since I had nothing to write, here comes this practical encounter making me realize the shit hole life is.

Frankly, there are times when I self-loathe, and pretty sure you do the same. Not always, but sometimes, and that is fine. A little bit of it is healthy till it becomes despising oneself.

There are times when we have those high ambitions and equally high failures in the past. We keep resting or loathing over our past laurels or utter misfires. With all the philosophy around and those grumpy-looking men telling us the real essence of life, we tend to stick with the familiar.

The stoics, philosophers, and enlightened people are gone. They kept asking basic things and informed simple solutions.

Who’s to listen?

We are happy living in misery and chasing the next thing and then the next till we realize it is all over and our ledger is about to close forever, only to end up in debts.

Life is all about choices we make and then sticking to them. But the problem begins with expectations and desires found during the journey. The ego takes over, and we either short sell ourselves or create a bubble of invincibility around us. Either way, hatred or despising is a common outcome of our thought process.

Success teaches us many things, and so do failures. The irony is we are not satisfied with both. With success, we want more, and even the best of everything seems trivial. Failure is a thorn we try plucking till the wound opens up to sheer pain, realizing all this for what?

So, recently I decided to speak to a dog and a 3-year-old to discuss life. After all, somebody needs to hear me rant or listen to my big life plans. Yes, there are people for that, but as I said, things are weird these days.

It is one of those times when nothing and everything makes sense to me at the same time. Call it daily sitting with nothing to do other than staring at my roof (yes, I do that), or meditation and a newfound love for nature and everything else.

Perhaps when we love everything else, humans tend to irritate us more. A 3-year-old doesn’t make the cut yet, and with ogling or giggling and a 2-inch spit trail below their mouth, things are pretty innocent, you’d think.

Here I was with a pet dog, trying to vent out everything from my miseries and big plans. I told the guy (checked down there) about how sufferings have taken a toll on me and changed my perspective towards life. Some life goals in the plan after shitty decisions, and how the laptop doesn’t work sometimes and everything falls flat on the face.

From reaching the zenith to hurling abuses for the poor thing, life seems one big shit hole. Sure, the laptop later starts, and I feel on top of the world and gun for glory again. Somehow the pendulum is still swinging in the chaotic turmoil for now but for how long.

With his tongue dropped, firing spit down on my boots and tail wagging in excitement as if he is getting laid for the day, he finally goes towards some pathetic shaped ball and gets it for me. Not sure, but this meant; shut your sick mouth and get on playing with whatever it is you have.

Interestingly, the ball didn’t qualify for a round shape, and hence the ball was incongruous to, well, a ball. Anyway, he was happy, and if he could speak, he would have told me how even this mere ball with its irregular shape is enough for him to play and move on till he gets something else.

The incident hit me hard, and I thought hard about what he taught me. This little bastard needs a new ball. I mean, who plays with what he played. Confused, bemused, and bruised, I set for a new ball. Most of all, it gave me a fresh perspective. More on that perspective later.

A little rattled, I moved on to a 3-year-old kid with a dog spit on boot. I must say, the dog took the steam out of me. Neither the ranting nor the venting found an answer. Moreover, the sheer disdain threw me off balance, as if he didn’t even care. Perhaps I wasn’t looking for answers, but ears.

I thought the girl with her no-nonsense attitude of “let me play, and I hear you” is my natural go-to place.

I took my story and spilled it towards her. She was busy making spit balls and arranging some toys in non-arrangement. Having finished my part, it was her turn. She asked my finger and bit it hard, and then asked me to pretend as a monkey. To round up the misery, she finally giggled while my finger and ego both bruised.

Over to the perspective now. This bad ego trip and beating have a clear message in plain sight.

The greatest takeaway from this coming back to the perspective trip was how correct and relevant this little show was. Because life is simple, and whether we try to invent the invisible machine, climb Everest, decipher quantum physics, or whatever is it that keeps us occupied, stuck, or cringe, life allows us to be the real deal.

We can take life as is and be a sport just like the dog and a 3-year-old. Play the hand that you’re dealt. And a dog and a kid can surprisingly remind you the same.

The encounter gave me a lesson on humility. We usually live at the extremes, making things personal and being judgemental. We carry grudges and go hard on ourselves and others, nursing the baggage of past and future anticipations. We either tend to think of ourselves too highly or with total despise.

We go around compensating for old mistakes to make everything perfect for a false sense of completeness, or we detest our life to the extent of calling it the worst possible thing.

Here’s the thing- none of it is true. The dog gets it, and so does the girl. They asked me to do what they did because life does not have to be all dread or anticipation. Instead, I wanted to share life and discuss all that happened or might happen, and for what?

So, stitch that spilling mouth and shut that overworked brain, and play ball or become a monkey. Sometimes we need that.