LESSONS FROM A DOG BLOG DAYS 2-5

You might think that I had given up on this whole idea of following Emma's adivice after only one day, since I have not blogged about it since Wed evening. Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. I have just had a hard time getting back to writing.

After experiencing that the hardest part of trying to eat with gusto was remembering to do so on my first day, I have since had little problem with that issue. In fact, sometimes, I find myself anticipating eating with gusto as I prepare my food. I then find myself smiling in anticipation of enjoying my eating experience. Once my landlady saw me suddenly start to smile as I cooked some hamburger meat for lunch, and asked me what I was so happy about. I told her that I was just getting myself ready to eat with gusto. I don't think that she got it.

Speaking of lunch, I have not forgotten it since the first day, either. In fact, I have been much more in touch with my body's need for food, since I started this.

I just looked up a definition of "gusto" online. Here it is: "Enjoyment or vigor in doing something; zest." How perfect! That is exactly what I have been experiencing! Eating, no matter how ordinary the food, has become a really enjoyable experience. I am really starting to notice the individual tastes in my food, and am more and more conscious of the fact that I am feeding my body as I do so.

The gratitude that I feel for my food has increased exponentially, and starts as I sit down to eat it. And, the best part of this experience has been that the good feelings often carry over to the next activity. I find myself in a great mood; smiling, feeling happy and excited about what I am doing and anticipating doing.

Oddly enough, the above has not translated into my feeling happy and excited about writing this blog. In fact, that first night, after having an early dinner, then returning from a meeting with some new clients a few of hours later, I felt quite hungry. I wanted to snack, but I couldn't get over the thought that if I ate, I'd have to blog about it, and I just didn't want to. This is especially interesting, since I had been enjoying writing every day for several days, including earlier that day. All of a sudden, though, writing had suddenly become a chore.

Finally, I convinced myself that I didn't have to blog about it immediately after eating, and settled down to eating some wonderful celery and peanut butter with gusto. It had been some time since I'd had peanut butter, and boy did I enjoy it in my state of gusto.

I am looking forward to expanding from eating with gusto to doing everything with gusto. I have even been actively noticing Emma's attitude as she enjoys a hike, plays, gets ready to go for a walk, etc. And, on Thursday, I carefully observed a member of my Toastmaster's club who has an incredible zest for life, and is well above 70 years old. I intend to emulate some of what I observed in him as he moved around the room greeting people before the meeting.

Now that I have finally convinced myself to write, again, I look forward to giving you more insights into this experience as I finish up this first week of my Lessons From a Dog experience.