Change of Heart

I feel one of the most important things an individual can carry with them is an open heart. I am not talking about a person that gets taken advantage of and gets walked all over. Rather I feel a person should be open hearted in the sense that they carry their own opinions with them but they do not hold so closely onto these opinions that they try to force their opinions on others. A silly but true example of this can be displayed in my life a couple of years ago. About 2-3 years ago I was the proud owner of two beautiful Labrador retriever’s. My dog's names were Shadow and Whitney. I loved my dogs with all of my heart but what bugged me so much was individuals who brought their tiny little "Fru Fru dogs" to the mall in little strollers and dressed them up in little outfits. This behavior drove me crazy and I remember telling everyone I knew that I was going to bring my dogs Shadow and Whitney to the mall and parade them around just like the little dogs do and see what happened. I never did this of course but at the time I wanted to prove a point that little dogs did not deserve any special treatment just because they were smaller, I thought that if little dogs were allowed into the mall mine should as well despite their large size. The other aspect of little dogs that I could not stand was the little outfits that individuals dressed their dogs in. I looked at this at the time as animal abuse as I believed that dogs did not need clothes because they had fur. Let me repeat I could NOT stand clothes on dogs.

 Let’s not fast forward to the winter of 2012. I had recently lost my best friend since I was eight years old, Shadow due to old age and it really took a toll on me.  A couple months after he passed away my sister was given the opportunity to adopt a smaller dog and this is when Dexter became a part of our family. He was a much smaller dog than I was used to and therefore his old owner had clothes for him. I still held my opinion about the dog clothes however Dexter was so cute that I was not so bothered by the clothes that he had. They were mostly sweaters for the winter months so I figured that was actually pretty practical because he was so small. Time went by and I loved seeing him in all of his outfits. We also got Lottie a Miniature Poodle a couple months back and by the time I got her in the winter of 2013 I loved looking at different outfits I could get for her. I even bought her a little yellow polka dot dress for summer. She doesn't wear it all the time, however compared to where I was a couple years ago this was a HUGE step for me as I vowed I would never and I mean never buy dog clothes.

From this story I would like to stress that although you may have a strong opinion about something now you never know where you will be in a couple of years. This is also important to remember in terms of relationships with others. You may have a strong opinion about something going on in another person’s life however you need to remember that it is not your life and you to think before you say what is on your mind. You can never take something you say back and you never know if you will have a different opinion about an issue in a couple of years. You never want to destroy a relationship all because of differing opinions. For example say a member of your family is dating an individual that you do not particularly care for. Perhaps they do not hold the greatest job at this point of time or perhaps you feel that the relationship is going a bit too fast. If you voice your opinion to your family member you will risk the relationship based upon a silly opinion that you hold at the time. A destroyed relationship is not worth it because you have to remember opinions and feelings constantly change you never know how you will feel about something you dislike now in a couple of months or even a year. I am guilty of this and I have unfortunately destroyed relationships that I had cherished in my life all because I wanted to say what was on my mind when I wanted to say it. These lost relationships have caused me pain and a feeling of rejection because I now no longer am in contact with the individual's all because I wanted to say what is on my mind.

I want to share with you that you never know where you are going to be in a couple year so always and I mean ALWAYS think before you are going to say something. Although you may be feeling a certain way in the heat of the moment you may always change your opinion and have a change of heart. On the flip side if you have been wronged by an individual in the past and they have insulted you in some form or another although you may feel angry you too can have a change of heart. It may not be easy however if you truly value the relationship it is definitely worth a try. Remember everyone no matter what circumstance they are in can experience a change of heart and hopefully this will be for the better and will enhance individual relationships everywhere.