Taking a Moment to Play

Throughout life we face many adversities, some can be so powerful and incapacitating that we are shaken to our cores and are forced to "start life over". It can be a very hard process and quite scary to face the world again; but just remember to always take a moment, notice your surroundings, breath in the fresh air, and have fun doing it. This will always remind you how happy and wonderful life can be.

Play Therapy by Irene Smith:
"When they brought Rio to us, he was profoundly depressed. A beautiful two-year-old pedigreed German shepherd, this dog had been terribly abused. His eyes were deep pools of despair. Rio took up residence in the coat closet and refused to eat. While he consented to be walked, he shuffled like an old man. We took turns sitting in front of the closet and talking softly to him. He listened gravely and finally deigned to take treats of cheese and chicken from our hands. Still, though, he declined to participate in the life of the household.
One cold February night about two weeks after his arrival, I walked Rio and Haiku, a four-month-old Shepherd mix pup, up to the dead end of the street and let them off their leashes in a big fenced lot. There was a layer of new snow on the ground. Haiku streaked off, circled the perimeter of the lot, and came back to run rings around Rio, inviting him to play. Rio watched for a few minutes, seemingly without interest, sitting listlessly in the snow.
Finally, Rio stood up, shook himself vigorously, and started to run. Haiku, delighted, followed him. I stood in the snow until my feet were blocks of ice watching them. They ran, they rolled, they turned somersaults, they leaped, they danced, they had mock wrestling matches. In Haiku there was the infinite energy if a puppy; in Rio, the look of a prisoner finally let out of his terrible jail. Life was starting over for Rio."

Copy Write: Dog People Do It Better by Theresa Mancuso, 2005.