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This is Fruitycake, and before anyone starts blaming me for anything, I would like to make it very clear that I did NOT drink all of that wine and beer.

Yesterday, we were trying to work on some of the videos and stories from our rescue visit while also enjoying a little peace at this Lake Como place. Girl Person had her computer. Boy Person’s back has been hurting, so he was doing yoga. I was looking at the lake and reflecting upon important things like what we were going to eat later. It was quiet. It was peaceful. Boy Person was stretching. Girl Person was working. I was supervising.

Then people started walking past me.

One person. Another person. Then another person. I started feeling grumbly. I don’t know why everyone at this Lake Como place feels the need to walk around so much. There is a perfectly good lake to sit beside and stare at. But no. Walking. Constant walking. Girl Person told me to stop worrying about everyone else and mind my own business.

So naturally, I barked.

And then the world ended.

CRASH.

We heard glass falling, someone screaming and then MORE glass falling. Then the screaming got louder. Then there was Italian screaming. Then MORE GLASS. Every time we thought it was over, another bottle crashed. Boy Person stopped mid-yoga. Girl Person stopped working. I stopped being grumbly.

The peace was gone.

Glass and yoga are not a thing.

I don’t know a lot about yoga, but I am fairly certain there is no pose called Downward Facing Dog While Forty-Seven Wine Bottles Crash Down The Stairs.

Girl Person looked at Boy Person. Boy Person looked at Girl Person. They both looked at me.

I would like to remind everyone again that I did not drink all of that wine and beer.

Apparently, the people walking past us had been carrying their recycling down the stairs, and my bark startled them. They dropped it. All of it. Bottles were everywhere. There was glass everywhere. There was yelling, confusion and the unmistakable evidence that someone at this Italy place had enjoyed a beverage or 47.

And they had a dachshund with them.

Now, I am not criticizing anyone because today’s affirmation specifically says I am not supposed to do that. But I would just like to point out that if your plan for cleaning up a recycling catastrophe involves a dachshund, you may need a second plan.

He was very low to the ground.

What was he supposed to do? Sweep?

I watched him standing there in the middle of the situation, and I actually started to feel a little bad for everyone. After all, I had barked. Maybe I should help.

Then I remembered something extremely important.

Marinara sauce comes in bottles.

Suddenly this recycling situation had become relevant to me. Was there marinara in there? Was there still marinara in there? Was someone going to inspect the bottles for leftover marinara? Because if this family needed a qualified professional, I was willing to put our differences aside.

Girl Person said absolutely not.

And that’s when today’s affirmation started making a little too much sense.

TODAY’S AFFIRMATION, say it out loud and follow along in your September workbook to complete it

Counting The Faults Of Others Adds To My Own

I will stop counting the faults of others. Looking for flaws adds heaviness to my own heart. I will notice what is good, honest and human instead. Compassion will make room for peace in me.

See, before the Great Lake Como Recycling Incident, I was sitting there counting everyone else’s faults. Too many people. Too much walking. Too close to me. Why are you coming this way? Why can’t you walk somewhere else? Can’t you see that Boy Person is trying to yoga?

I was so busy finding fault with everyone else that I forgot one small detail.

I was the one who barked.

Isn’t that how it goes sometimes? We can make a complete list of what everyone around us is doing wrong and somehow leave ourselves off of it. We know who talks too much, who complains too much, who isn’t thoughtful enough and who definitely drinks a suspicious amount of wine based solely on the contents of their recycling.

But counting someone else’s faults doesn’t make ours disappear. It just makes more noise. Sometimes quite literally.

Maybe peace isn’t about getting everyone around us to behave exactly the way we want them to. Maybe peace is learning when not to bark. Maybe compassion is remembering that everyone has their own mess to carry down the stairs, and sometimes we don’t know how heavy it is until it falls.

And when it does fall, maybe we don’t stand there counting the broken pieces and deciding whose fault every one of them was. Maybe we help pick them up.

Unless there is broken glass. Dogs absolutely should NOT help pick up broken glass.

But emotionally, I mean.

So today, raise a glass to giving other people a little more grace. Raise a glass to looking for what’s good instead of what’s wrong. Raise a glass to remembering that we all make mistakes, we all have faults and sometimes we all make a really big mess.

Even me.

And if you break the glass? Pick it up, forgive yourself, forgive the person who may have barked and keep going.

Because that’s really the point, isn’t it?

Raise a glass, even if you break it.

And if that glass previously contained marinara sauce, please contact me immediately.

Boy Person may still be in child’s pose.

Fruitycake

P.s. We Really Need Your Help Today

We have so much more rescue content coming this week from our visit—more dogs to introduce you to, more stories, more videos and more of what we learned. We want to keep doing this work, expand it and use our platforms to help individual rescue animals be seen and heard. But our work is not sponsored, and we truly need support today for necessities and the costs of continuing this work. If you can help with even a small amount, it adds up and makes it possible for us to keep going.

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Please keep watching all week because we have a lot more from this rescue visit that we cannot wait to share. If you believe in what we’re trying to do—to Make Rescues The Breed Of Choice and tell these animals’ stories as individuals—please help us keep doing it today.