What's Your Mark?

Everyday, or mostly everyday, I make my way over to the park with my 2 dogs so that they play. Anywhere from 2 to 12 dogs could be there during the weekday evenings, all with the same agenda... play! I am thankful for these neighbors and their dogs. It's ever entertaining to watch the dogs play and enjoy the time outside. Each dog has a general mode of operation. Conner, the German Shepherd, barks. Chaco, our Lab mix, watches and wanders sniffing the grass. Lucy, our GSP, runs and then lays on her back so the slowpokes can have a chance to wrestle her. Winston, the Bulldog, gets out of breath chasing Lucy. ( I could go on...) Finally, there is Casey the Golden mix, whose m.o. is to surprise the humans with a little urine on their leg. At first, I thought it was just me that Casey had "marked." Apparently, he has done this to most of the regular humans. Thankfully, Casey's owner was apologetic, and those of us Casey has done this to have good senses of humor.

Just like the dogs, we humans each have our go-to/fallback modes of encountering the world. And, just like the dogs, we make a mark on those with whom we interact. No one is perfect, and we all have bad days, but if our general persona is one that leaves people with figurative yellow stain on their legs, something is wrong. What is interesting, though, is that when we are negative, our affect on the world is merely one person deep. According to this study, happiness/a good attitude makes a 3 deep difference. If our mark is positive, we encourage a better world with more happy people. (Thanks go to Jill for pointing out this study in the first place.) I choose to encounter people with compassion and joy (even when they don't treat me with the same dignity.) What's your mark?