An experience that I have come to anticipate appears with modest regularity on my path. It involves a little dog. When I walk by the home where she lives, I can absolutely count on her rising to her feet from “her” porch ledge and barking at me. Now, she never looks at me nor leaves the ledge. She just barks until I leave the boundary of her home. Once, after I rounded the corner out of her territory, I decided to sneak back into it to see what would happen. I had tiptoed just three steps into her home field when she rose to her full 18″ height and barked! Well, I got the message!

I always looked forward to seeing this little one in her full-on protective mode because she was so intent on doing what she saw as her job. Eventually, I realized that she gave no evidence of having any sight, just the ability to hear. Perhaps it was ironic or serendipitous, but her blind behavior when there  was no apparent danger anywhere close triggered a question in search of explanation. I realized that her barking was reminiscent of habits and beliefs that we hold, i.e., we can no longer remember why we do something, or say something, or believe something, we just carry on with it.

On one level, it is somewhat akin to always putting my right leg in my jeans first or putting the glove on my right hand first. I am clueless as to how the behavior became a habit. At another level, the habit of having dessert at the end of the meal is one I continue to honor. Amazingly, I can trace its origin and I doubt that I will alter the process and have my dessert in the middle of my meal. I’ll probably acknowledge it as a well-ingrained habit; clearly one that is not messing up my life.

There is that deeper level, however, where the habitual behavior hardens into a belief. When a belief limits the possibilities and the opportunities of your life, I think we have a bad habit. Wouldn’t you agree? For example, throwing a tantrum at three to get your needs met is understandable; doing the same at 53, is not only a bad habit but a belief in need of radical change.

If we become what we repeatedly do and what we repeatedly affirm, I’d have to say that little barking girl reminded me that I need to stay conscious and that to stay in the conversation of life I must always affirm the possible impossibles!!

By the way, the little girl on her ledge? I didn’t see her there a few days ago and I didn’t see her this morning. Maybe I’ll put her bark in my heart with a dog treat to go with it!!