The Positive Dog: A Story About the Power of Positivity

A Day of Gratitude

The first thing Matt did was to remember some of the important lessons Bubba shared with him.

Matt then walked over to the water bowl and gave thanks while he drank some water. Then, he looked around and was thankful he had such a big yard to run and play in. He took off running and was thankful for legs to run and the grass to run on. He joined a few of the other young mutts and was thankful he had friends to play with.

As the hours passed he found more and more things to be thankful for. Bubba was right. The more grateful you are, the more you get things to be grateful about. He noticed that at first it felt awkward to be grateful about such small things but the more often he did it, the more natural it felt. He figured the awkwardness was the result of an underdeveloped gratitude muscle which was now getting stronger.

His biggest test came when a family visited the shelter to choose a dog to take home. They came by his kennel and commented on how cute he was, but they ended up choosing another dog. He was upset and angry, but remembered Bubba's advice and decided to be grateful for the fact that it was the first time people stayed at his cage and didn't call him mean. He did his best to smile and laugh instead of bark and he was thankful that it made a difference. ...