I died today...

I died today. You got tired of me and took me to the shelter. They were overcrowded and I drew an unlucky number. I am in a black plastic bag in a landfill now. Some other puppy will get the barely used leash you left. My collar was dirty and too small, but the lady took it off before she sent me to the Rainbow Bridge . Would I still be at home if I hadn’t chewed your shoe? I didn’t know what it was, but it was leather, and it was on the floor. I was just playing. You forgot to get puppy toys. Would I still be at home if I had been housebroken? Rubbing my nose in what I did only made me ashamed that I had to go at all. There are books and obedience teachers that would have taught you how to teach me to go to the door. Would I still be at home if I hadn’t brought fleas into the house? Without anti-flea medicine, I couldn’t get them off of me after you left me in the yard for days. Would I still be at home if I hadn’t barked? I was only saying, “I’m scared, I’m lonely, I’m here, I’m here! I want to be your best friend.” Would I still be at home if I had made you happy? Hitting me didn’t make me learn how. Would I still be at home if you had taken the time to care for me and to teach manners to me? You didn’t pay attention to me after the first week or so, but I spent all my time waiting for you to love me. I died today. Love, Your Puppy

Does the past really make us stronger?

I've been thinking...do the things that happen to us in our lives that hurt us really make us stronger in the long run? Or do those events traumatize us so much that to relive them makes it hurt? Do the people we date who don't last really help us realize what we don't want in life, or keep us wondering what would have happened if we could have made it work?

There will always be the 'what if's' in life...we will always wonder how our lives would be if we would have taken a different path. The goal is to not regret where we are today or who we've become, but to instead embrace it and love ourselves, even when we can't look at ourselves in the mirror. We cannot dwell on the past, cannot change who we were when we were seventeen...