Take Time To P-a-w-s...

You know what I've noticed lately? Humans always seem to be busy and in a hurry! Even Mama spends a lot of time making lists of things to do, organizing the house, doing Zoom meetings, and being on the phone so much. She thinks because she puts those white things in her ears, I don't know she's on the phone, but she should know I'm too smart to be tricked. Just like when she thinks I don't notice her breaking my treats in half but not hers…

But back to my story about always being busy, although I definitely don't mind when mama's busy making me food, rushing out to buy me treats, or ordering my food online. This is very impawtent to be busy with! And I think it's very impawtent for mama to be on the phone when I hear her laughing because I know it's something making her happy, but do you think all her other calls are important too? I’m not sure.

And it’s not good to be busy all the time. I know how impawtent it is to live*love*play so you have a happy life instead of just a busy one. Every day, I spend time just relaxing and thinking on my own. Every day, I spend time just lying next to mama, or looking out the window, or playing with just one special toy at a time. And when we go for our walks, I always p-a-w-s often, looking for new and different things to see and sniff.

But Mama needed to get away from home to be reminded of this – maybe you do, too. How do I know this? Because it wasn't until we were at our favorite holiday spot at the beach this summer and we were just sitting and watching the ocean and mama wasn't worrying what the time was, or rushing to the next meeting, or adding another task to her always long to-do list that she said, "you know Toffy, it's so nice just to be enjoying this moment and not worrying about anything else and to really feel life and the beauty around us. Like when you always 'stop and smell the flowers' on every walk." I need to do that more often.

This made me p-a-w-s because I didn't think about feeling life on purpose more. Although mama thought she saying this only to herself, I realized that I needed to hear this, too! I was so happy we had that moment for her to remember this, and I was p-a-w-s-i-ng so I could also learn a lesson - that I could live*love*play even better.

Since that day, mama made two important new rules for us:

Rule 1 is that when we're doing something special together, like playing, eating, or watching a movie, or any other things we do, nothing else is allowed to interfere with us so we can p-a-w-s properly and really enjoy whatever we're doing.

Rule 2 is that when we go on our walks, there's no phone and no rushing but just enjoying the pawsome time together and noticing and feeling all the beautiful things around us - the trees, or the flowers, or the waves when we're at the ocean and of course the people who want to stop and say hello to me. It's definitely made these times even more special.

And you know what? Even though I was already good at p-a-w-s-i-n-g, I learned something, too! When I pay extra special attention and p-a-w-s a little longer, like mama said, I don't just notice things – I can feel them, too. Instead of just noticing the green, green grass I’m sniffing, I feel how soft and cool it is and how the breeze doesn't just bring interesting smells my way that I can't even see where they're from but now I also notice how good the breeze feels on my face.

So, the 2 impawtent lessons of my story are: 1. If you’re always busy, always in a rush, always thinking about what must happen next, and always trying to do too many things at once, that’s when life gets stressful.

2. If you don’t p-a-w-s often enough and long enough, you miss out on so many special moments and experiences that can make you tail-wagging happy. And even an expert relaxer like me learned that you can always do things better and that if you become a super p-a-w-s-e-r, you can live*love*play with even more happiness.

What beautiful things do you think you’ll see and feel that you’re not if you also remember to p-a-w-s more often and really notice the world around you? I’d love to hear what they are!

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!