The Gift of Fear and My Dogs

To a large extent, my social life revolves around my dogs.  I walk them every day.  Most every day, we run into other dogs.  Some are our friends, some are not.  Of the ones who aren't, to some we are simply indifferent, while others are enemies.  The funny thing is that even from a distance, the dogs have always known which was which.  They didn't need to see wagging tails or bared teeth.  They didn't need to sniff the other dogs.  Heck, sometimes they didn't even have to be in smelling or visual range - they just knew.  They've never been wrong.    Have you ever tried to convince a dog that they're wrong about another dog?  They'll have none of it, and try to run the other way or bare their teeth at you if you push it.  Obviously, dogs sense something about each other's basic nature and they follow their instinct.

People are animals too.  We have instincts about people.  We get that feeling in the pit of our stomach, sense that things don't feel right, and what do we do?  Do we act like my dogs, and go the other way?  Some of us do, but a lot of us figure our senses must be wrong, that we're overreacting.  We over think and override what our senses are telling us.  It gets us into trouble, into relationships that are toxic, into situations that cause us harm.  We need to act more like my dogs, get back in touch with our instincts, listen to our fear.  Get back in touch with your canine instincts - save your life.  Read Gavin de Becker's The Gift of Fear and learn how.