A while back I splashed out and purchased some expensive walking/hiking boots, as I walk 3-4 miles a day with the dog in all weathers.
The boots are designed for hiking in mud hell with weather that creates natural disasters!
So really OTT for walking in light woodland in the UK.
However, when I first bought them, and for several weeks, I would say to myself ‘walk round that mud or puddle, don’t want to get the boots dirty or ruin them’!!! I found myself avoiding the kind of terrain they were designed for in case I spoilt them.
Then one day as I was about to avoid the mud swamp in the rain, I stopped myself and said ‘WTF’ then laughed out loud and jumped two-footed in with mud and water flying all over me and the dog. The dog was ecstatic, this her idea of heaven, laying in a muddy puddle and finally she thought ‘he gets it at last’.
Then it reminded me of how often in life we avoid getting ‘muddy’, letting go and just enjoying the moment based on fear. We hold back so much based on our mind and its never-ending repeating thought patterns.
Animals, especially our pets, can teach us so much about the joy of now and freedom that letting go can bring us.
Be in the moment and get muddy like the dog as often as you can.
Philip Dodson 