Very recently my family and I lost a close friend, our dog Sophie. She was almost 14 years old and was full of life and energy up until about her last week with us. After returning home from the vet the day we had to put her down, my father and I sat outside and reminisced about our favorite memories with her and talked about what a great dog she was. She was always as friendly, loyal, loving, and caring as any dog could have been. This discussion with my dad led to another conversation that I decided I wanted to share because I think it has some truth to it. The conversation that came up was; what if people thought a little more like dogs do?
It is no secret that our nation is somewhat of a disaster right now. With Covid-19, social injustice, and politics, being the top contributors, there is always something for people to disagree upon. America seems to be divided about everything, even in a time where we arguably need to be unified the most. That being said, my dog didn’t care what your skin color was, your religion, your political views, your income, or any other opinions you might have. If you treated her well, she was going to treat you well. She judged you exclusively on your character, and I think we could solve a lot of these issues if people thought the same way.
I don’t want to get into politics too much, but it always seems that every ad or debate has to be negative. Maybe if people could focus on why they will do a good job, rather than why the opposing candidate would do a bad job, things would be less divided. Or at least less extreme. I wish people could still have respect for each other, even if they have differing opinions.
My dog always focused on reasons to like people, until you gave her a reason not to. It seems that people tend to have it backward. People want to overgeneralize and dislike someone until they find a reason that they shouldn’t.
A great example of how dogs show love and loyalty where it is due, no matter the circumstances, would be that more often than not, (at least where I am from) homeless people seem to always have a dog with them. And in my experience, the dog doesn’t look any less happy than a dog living in a big house. Assuming they are both treated properly. Dogs don’t care how much money you have or who you are, treat them well and they’ll do the same. Sophie was always loving and compassionate up until her dying days, even when she finally got sick, she did her best to make sure her owners still knew that.
I think people can learn a lot from my dog, and probably from most dogs. The point that I am making is that if people could see past their inherited prejudices, and quit overgeneralizing, the world would probably be a much better place. It is possible to love people with different opinions, religions, political views, or anything else that seems to only divides us. Sophie showed me that. There would be much less hate in the world if people thought like Soph did. I encourage everyone who reads this to try and treat people like she did, it’s not that hard after all. It’s so easy even a dog can do it.