Lessons My Dog Has Taught Me About Happiness
All the Things I Know About Happiness I Learned From My 9-Year-Old Yellow Lab
Stress is physically contagious.
One morning, on my way from our apartment door to the elevator, I realized I had forgotten a document that I urgently needed. I had just held it in my hands a few minutes before, so I rushed back inside to pick it up. The weirdest thing happened — the paper disappeared. I had just had it in my hands, I really wanted to take it with me, and I couldn't find it. Stress took over, and I began to madly shuffle all the papers on my desk, pulling out folders and piles and spreading them out.
As I searched, I could feel my anxiety building. But then, Minjay gave a whine I've only heard him make a couple times in his life, when he was really sick or nervous. But this time, he was just standing next to me watching me wildly throw papers, and he could obviously feel my anxiety. I had transferred it to him. I had already known he could feel my excitement: when I grab his leash and am clearly excited to leave the house, he jumps around at the door even more than usual.
There have been plenty of studies that show how intelligent dogs are and how they can sense our emotions. But this was the first time I saw how my anxiety spread to him tangibly.
I couldn't help thinking about how my anxiety could affect other people around me, and resolved to be better about not letting my anxieties get the best of me.
