Silver Linings...

Have you ever felt like you keep trying and trying to do something but just don't seem to be getting anywhere?

Mama says everyone feels like that sometimes, especially when they are doing hard things, everything feels like a struggle, and it takes a long time to finish and a long time to see if they are working.

Mama says this can make people feel very frustrated and sad and so lots of people just give up because they don't believe they can do it or they don't have a good reason to do it. She said she knows this because she helps lots of people who feel like this. I asked mama why they didn't find the silver lining and something good while they were doing the hard thing because she told me there was always a silver lining to find if you just looked for it. I know this is pawsible because it happened to me on the beach every day on our Seaside Summer Fun vacation. If you watch my VIDEO, you'll see the struggle I was having - trying to dig a hole to see what was at the bottom of the sand. It didn't matter how much or how fast or how long I dug for, I never got to the bottom of the sand. And sometimes, just when I thought I was making pawgress, a wave would fill my hole, and I'd have to start all over again. I got very frustrated sometimes, but then I remembered to look for the silver lining...

I found a few silver linings that made my goal feel fun and not hard: 1. I was so lucky to be on a Summer Seaside vacation - on a beautiful beach, where the air smelled so good, and I was having the best time ever with my mama.

2. I could get as muddy and dirty as I wanted, and instead of mama stressing like she does at home, she loved seeing me have so much fun.

3. I was exercising so much, but it never felt like I was.

The ONE most important lesson I learned from trying so hard to dig a hole to see what was at the bottom of the sand was that it was digging the hole that was the best part and most fun.

It was like the man who I saw fishing. I could tell he was definitely having more fun trying to catch the fish than catching it.

And he also put the fish back in the sea straight away.

I think the sea always filling the hole I was digging was the same as him always catching the same fish. But the fun for us both was when we were trying to do what we wanted to have!

What is something hard you've tried to do when you felt like you making no pawgress, but when you found the silver lining, it didn't feel so hard anymore?

And I'd love to know what your silver lining was. Maybe when something else is hard or frustrating for me, I can look for one of the silver linings you found if I can't find any of my own. Toffy xoxo

#lifewithtoffy PS! If you liked this edition of Toffy's Dog Blog, please share it with your friends and family and help me share my message to live*love*play!