In Which My Dog Teaches Me A Philosophical Lesson About Making Mistakes

One of my dogs regularly walks into flights of stairs. Not up them, well, not at first at least, but into them. It’s not that she doesn’t know what to do with stairs, it’s just that she always spaces out, gets distracted by – walls and people and such, and then… bam. Stairs. “What?! Who put these here?!? Dad – did you see these?!?! Gosh.”

And the funny thing is, I can relate. Deeply. I bump into a lot of stuff before I figure out what to do with it too. What we have in common is that we both know the trick to survival. If you’re going to bumble and stumble and ramble into things, the trick is to just not get hurt (too badly). Yes, pay attention to your surroundings, but bang around a bit and try not to hurt yourself.

I’m pretty sure there’s more hope for me here than my dog. But, she also acts as a reminder to not feel bad about saying, “Oh crap, what did I just do… ok, ha-ha physical world, I see you (sort of, sometimes). Yes, there are stairs here. I know what to with these.”

Yeah. It’s a metaphor (for me, not Raven). But, don’t feel bad if it happens to you too. Shake it off and get to climbing. This dog is smarter than the average bear.*

*probably not, but metaphorically? Sure.