Grab Life By the (Tennis) Balls!

[Donte]

Those who have a dog would know the significance of tennis balls. Sometimes they disappear in front of your eyes and other times magically appear out of nowhere. Despite the fact that they are cheap and easily accessible and replaceable, such a small thing makes the highlight of many dogs lives and an important part of engaging, playing and relating between owners and their dogs. It leads to bonding and a satisfying experience of sharing and enjoying the little things in life. At times you go to great lengths as a dog owner trying to retrieve lost balls and other times you just let them go without any effort to get them back. When it comes to opportunities, taking chances, risks, investing in events, emotions, people, relationships and situations the same principle could be applicable. Sometimes you’ll lose and sometimes you win. There’s no point tormenting ourselves unnecessarily with anxiety and stress for things we cannot change, or feeling depressed for events that had turned out differently to what we expected. It’s like all those tennis balls we’ve lost and never retrieved. We had fun throwing them, watch them bounce and see the joy our dog brings to us in this relentless hunt that never ceases to excite. We may also have captured amazing moments and landscapes and beauty that has made us feel awe and looking back at these pictures brings smiles to our faces. We may have talked to people and engaged in ways we wouldn't have otherwise if it wasn't for those seemingly insignificant tennis balls...When we are faced with loss and grief, when things are tough and our heart aches in agony, pain and loneliness, when bitterness remains and we cannot fathom how life will continue without that person, or relationship, or job or home or being away from our homeland and loved ones, having aged or lost our aspects of our independence and health etc (whatever the loss may be), it might help to keep in mind that like the lost tennis balls, we may not get these back again but we don’t know which others await to be discovered...what we may face in our next walk in the park, taking our next step towards some undiscovered experience that will provide us with meaningful purpose, new direction and shape our path in ways unimaginable...What's your experience when it comes to pets and mental health? How are pets viewed in your culture? Do you believe there is a positive link between pets and mental health? Let's get some woofs shall we?

[Donte]

Some people claim that people who talk to dogs are smarter than those who don’t!

Recent studies have proven the benefits of pets on people’s well-being and mental, social, physical and emotional health.

Especially people who live alone, are ill, isolated or have experienced trauma they can benefit not only by having pets by also by talking to them like they are humans.

The act of attributing human personality to things that aren’t human is called anthropomorphizing. This is a Greek word deriving from ‘anthropos’ (human) and ‘morphy’ (shape/appearance).

A great example of anthropomorphism can be the fact that scientists almost regularly name hurricanes after names of humans.

It is very common for people to give their pets nicknames and to spoil them by referring to them as their ‘babies’. This is the most common type of anthropomorphism done by humans. - ‘He’s a Good boy,’ ‘She’s my princess.’ Etc. People often use baby talk and endearments and alter their tone of voice when talking to pets.

Moreover, anthropomorphism is also a sign of a high level of creativity. For example, research has indicated that if you drew a picture of a human and pasted it on your bedroom wall, you would confuse your brain and would want to name the person in the picture and have a conversation with them. This is natural human behaviour and an intelligent one!

When we are performing anthropomorphism we also help our pets! - They start learning specific words and gestures from us, which makes communication easier. So your dog recognising your sadness or anger and empathising with you is actually a result of anthropomorphism!

Hence, the next time someone gives you ‘the look’ of confusion when you are talking to your pet, you know how to defend yourself! Go ahead and talk to your little buddy and ignore all the negative comments!