Applying "tradeoffs" across your life

2024-10-07

I’ve recently been practicing pragmatism more, searching to find good balances in trade-offs. One very positive side effect from that is how it’s changed my feelings towards dog ownership.

My border collie / aussie shepherd, Search, needs a lot of active brain time. He always needs a job, he needs a good amount of training every day. For a long time, I felt guilty when I didn’t have the energy to satisfy those needs.

I see it differently now. It’s a trade-off. Every day for Search should be a good day. Not every day can be a great day, and if I don’t have the energy today, maybe I can find it tomorrow. Does he really need a park day today, or did he burn off enough energy yesterday? Can we do a longer park day today, and do something different tomorrow? How can I make today a great day for him?

It’s taken such a load off my shoulders. I do want every day to be amazing for him, but he’s a dog. He’ll survive a day or two without crazy active brain time. Actually, he’ll certainly survive a lot of days, but I don’t want to try that.

So I just keep trying to find that balance, every day, where he gets his needs met and I’m doing what I enjoy, and not making dog ownership a chore.

❦