Asking

My dogs are not shy about asking for what they want and doing it at any time. It doesn’t matter what I’m doing they’ll ‘ask’, it could be yoga, reading, watching a movie, sleeping, at the computer. They might use a paw to want to be petted, or bring a ball or rope to play, or grab a leash to go for a walk. They are as creative as can be. I’m sure most dogs are like this.

Kids aren’t much different. They are in the moment and just ask for what they want or need whether it’s good or a toy or a hug. They just go for it.

Of course kids and dogs don’t always get what they ask for, but at least they aren’t shy about asking.

For an adult, we might call the behavior of dogs or kids rude, but we don’t. We understand their nature.

As we grow we are taught what’s appropriate and what’s not – what’s rude. So we stop asking because of what we’ve been taught. There’s some external protocol we’re supposed to follow and we have an internal association of guilt or weakness that goes along with asking.

What if we all just asked for what we wanted? Certainly we won’t get it all the times. Wouldn’t it be freeing just to ask with no judgment associated with it, internal or external?