During one of our discussions, I shared with him a video in which Tony Robbins talked about the importance of living in a beautiful state. A few days later, Duncan suggested I explore the states we go through daily and how we behave in each state.

Well, I was in a terrible state the day I wrote this. I took Roli on a walk down by Lake Chocorua and a doe ran through the woods about 50 feet ahead of us. When it comes to deer, Roli might as well be a wolf. He wanted to chase it down, so the rest of the walk was miserable as he was pulling like a tow truck. I was so frustrated of getting dragged all over the woods that I was telling myself he was the last Husky I would rescue. I must be getting too old for this!

That evening, Roli and I went to my office in Conway to do a movement therapy session. I gave him a quick walk around the building, then he slept patiently in the car for an hour while I worked (my client is afraid of dogs). I was so thankful for his patience that I walked him around the neighborhood when we got home. He was really well behaved on the walk, hardly pulling at all. Sure, he tugged a bit here and there when he got a whiff of some animal, but he was like a different dog compared to our lunchtime walk.

It made me realize that the sight of prey gets him into a state of hunting that is all instinct. I am the one who is being unreasonable when I think he is going to walk well on a leash while in that state. Until he is out of the red zone of hunting, I should accept that I am as close to being with a wolf as I am likely to ever be…and wolves do not walk well on a leash.

He is such a beautiful animal, would I really want him to give up that primal instinct? No way! For those of us who enjoy life with Siberian Huskies, their primal nature is part of the joy. What I really want is to find a way to recognize my state of frustration and quickly change it to a beautiful state of relaxation or joy.

This present state of introspection might be just what I needed. The next time I get frustrated with Roli being an instinctive animal, I will think of this blog post. That alone might be enough to defuse me and bring me back to the state of joy that usually comes with a walk in this beautiful place we call home.

What causes you to fall into an unhappy or negative state? Now that you know, what will you do to bring yourself back to a beautiful state?