What Footsie Taught Us!

Home
>
Inspirational
>
What Footsie Taught Us!

We have just inherited a rag, tag and bobtail of a dog called 'Footsie'. She was found three weeks ago wandering around outside a local restaurant for a couple of days looking for food. Paula, a woman who takes responsibility for stray animals in this part of the island, took her in and started to look after her. She soon found that, Footsie has such a quiet, loving nature but is definitely not a 'looker'. She wouldn't win any awards at Crufts. Pure white coat, almost albino type eyes but a protruding bottom set of teeth which means she always has the canine tooth on the left and several of her other teeth showing. But, as we said, a lovely temperament. Very playful, loving and peaceful.

Paula took her to the local vet for a check up and found that Footsie is about 12 to 13 months old and had recently, within the last three weeks or so, had puppies. The vet gave the appropriate medicines to help her during the whelping period. But otherwise was in good health. She also had a chip in her ear but when they checked the computer system found that the registration had not been completed properly and only an out of use phone number was registered. So: no chance of finding the original owner.

For the next few days you could see Paula and Footsie walking around the village and after a couple of days it became more and more obvious that Paula was getting very attached to 'Footsie and Footsie to her. After all, Paula had taken her off the street and shown her a lot of love and affection. The only problem is that Paula specialises in cats. Wild street cats; and so there was no room in the apartment for Footsie. The result: Footsie spent the nights in Paula's car and the days in her office.

It wasn't long, no more than a couple of days before people in the village began to notice Footsie. About a week later a young guy approached Paula and asked if he could take her for his parents. Their dog had recently died and so he thought she would be an ideal replacement. An ideal loving dog, especially for an older couple. Footsie loves sitting on people's laps!

The deal was done. Paula agreed and Footsie was taken by the young man, placed in his car and taken on the local ferry to the next island where his parents live. Unfortunately his father did not like Footsie. For whatever reason he said he did not want her in the house. Although his mother quite liked her it was an impossible situation. So she had to make the return journey.

All was not lost though because the young man had fallen in love with Footsie and decided to keep him. He took Footsie home and he and his wife immediately fell in love with her. Unfortunately their female dog didn't. She played hell. She gave Footsie a very hard time and did not like the invasion of her space and territory. So after a night of constant fighting and quarrelling between the dogs the young couple decided, regrettably, Footsie had to go back to Paula.

So, four days and many experiences later, Footsie returned to Paula. She was so happy to see her and back to the office and the car at night.

When Paula was explaining the experience to Julie on the telephone, guess what! Julie said, Oh! She's such a sweet thing, we'll have her.

We have had her for all of 18 hours now and what an animal. She walked in as if she had always lived here, put her footmarks everywhere, ate some supper, watched the football match whilst sitting on my foot cushion and has carried on as though she has always been here.

This made us think of us human beings. Would we have behaved in this way? Or would we be bitching and slating people and telling everyone what a bad world it was and how terrible people are.

Footsie taught us three things:

1. how important it is to keep your self respect, no matter what, and respect others, no matter what.

2. live in the present. It's no good being wedded to what you told yourself you were going to do at the beginning of the day.

3. the way to people hearts is through giving. In her case, giving love. Just give love and don't expect anything in return and you will gain all the benefits.

It's a Doggy story but Footsie has taught us all, and we're sure there's more to come.

Good Luck

Graham and Julie

www.desktop-meditation.com

About The Author

Graham and Julie

To see more of our work please go to: www.desktop-meditation.com

graham@desktop-meditation.com

In The News:

Yahoo! News: Top Stories

Obama economic plan meets Capitol Hill reality (AP)

AP - Pushed by fellow Democrats, President-elect Barack Obama agreed to modest changes in his proposed tax cuts on Friday after inviting lawmakers to "just show me" ideas for fixing an economy shedding jobs at an alarming rate.

Ill. House impeaches governor, who vows to fight (AP)

AP - Gov. Rod Blagojevich was impeached Friday by Illinois lawmakers furious that he turned state government into a "freak show," setting the stage for an unprecedented trial in the state Senate that could get him thrown out of office.

Israel and Hamas ignore UN call for cease-fire (AP)

AP - Israeli jets and ground troops hammered at Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip and Islamic militants fired barrages of rockets at southern Israeli cities Friday, ignoring a U.N. resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire after two weeks of combat.

Obama mother-in-law to join family in White House (AP)

AP - Get ready for the in-law in chief. President-elect Barack Obama's mother-in-law, Marian Robinson, is moving into the White House at least temporarily to join Michelle Obama and the two children, transition officials said Friday. That's good news not just for late-night comics, but for 10-year-old Malia and 7-year-old Sasha. During the campaign, Robinson retired from her job as a bank executive secretary to help care for her granddaughters.

Palin: Is Kennedy getting 'kid glove' treatment? (AP)

AP - She messed up her first interviews, didn't show much of a grasp of the issues and, dontcha know, had a speech pattern that was widely mimicked.

Texas death row inmate pulls out eye, eats it (AP)

AP - A Texas death row inmate with a history of mental problems pulled out his only good eye and told authorities he ate it. Andre Thomas, 25, was arrested for the fatal stabbings of his estranged wife, their young son and her 13-month-old daughter in March 2004. Their hearts also had been ripped out. He was convicted and condemned for the infant's death.

Rare 'dinky' bird migrates to US for first time (AP)

AP - Birders with binoculars and cameras are flocking to a remote state park in search of a small yellow-chested bird that apparently crossed the U.S. border for the first time from its high-mountain habitat to the south.

'Dexter' brother and sister are husband and wife (AP)

AP - They play brother and sister on "Dexter." Now in real life, Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter are husband and wife. Hall's spokesman, Craig Bankey, said on Friday that the couple eloped in California on New Year's Eve. They'll walk the red carpet together at the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday Â— the first time publicly acknowledging their relationship.

Police say masked man waited in line to rob bank (AP)

AP - A man may have tipped his intentions when he stood in line at an Ohio bank wearing a ski mask before staging a holdup. Police in Stow near Akron said 24-year-old Feliks Goldshtein of Highland Heights was arrested minutes later on Thursday following a brief car chase.

Stimulant exemptions in baseball on the rise (AP)

AP - Baseball authorized nearly 8 percent of its players to use drugs for ADHD last season, which allowed them to take otherwise banned stimulants. A total of 106 exemptions for banned drugs were given to major leaguers claiming attention deficit hyperactivity disorder from the end of the 2007 season until the end of the 2008 season, according to a report released Friday by the sport's independent drug-testing administrator.

Citi, M. Stanley in brokerage talks; Rubin quits (Reuters)

Reuters - Citigroup Inc is in advanced talks to sell its Smith Barney brokerage unit to Morgan Stanley, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday, in a move that would further dismantle the financial supermarket that has been bailed out by the U.S. government.

Illinois House votes to impeach Gov. Blagojevich (Reuters)

Reuters - The Illinois House of Representatives impeached Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Friday for abuse of power, including a charge that he tried to sell President-elect Barack Obama's former U.S. Senate seat.

Israel rebuffs U.N. resolution, pursues Gaza war (Reuters)

Reuters - Israel rejected a U.N. resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Friday and warplanes and tanks pounded the Palestinian enclave.

Obama team, Rep. Frank eye bailout fund overhaul (Reuters)

Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama and a key Democratic lawmaker revealed plans on Friday to overhaul the government's $700 billion financial rescue fund as a way to aid struggling homeowners and speed the flow of credit.

Jobless rate at 16-year high as payrolls plunge (Reuters)

Reuters - The unemployment rate surged to the highest in nearly 16 years last month as a deepening year-long recession forced companies to axe more than half a million jobs, government data showed on Friday.

Supreme court to decide voting rights law challenge (Reuters)

Reuters - The U.S. Supreme Court said on Friday it would consider a challenge to a central provision of the 44-year-old voting rights law aimed at preventing states and local governments from making it harder for minorities to vote.

Bank industry slams lawmaker-Citi mortgage deal (Reuters)

Reuters - A top bank industry group said on Friday that it opposes an agreement between Citigroup Inc and Democratic senators that would rewrite U.S. bankruptcy law to help troubled mortgage borrowers avoid foreclosure, saying it could make home loans more expensive.

EU seeks to finalize Russian gas monitoring deal (Reuters)

Reuters - The European Union sought to finalize details on Friday of a gas monitoring deal to allow the resumption of gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine, which have been cut off for days over a pricing row.

Defiant Israel presses Gaza offensive as toll passes 800 (AFP)

AFP - Tanks and warplanes pounded Gaza on Friday after Israel defied a truce order from the UN Security Council as the death toll from the two-week-old conflict against Hamas passed 800.

Somali pirates say they have released Saudi supertanker (AFP)

AFP - Somali pirates said Friday they had freed a Saudi-owned supertanker, whose capture nearly two months ago caused panic in international shipping and spurred the world into tougher anti-piracy action.

What Footsie Taught Us!

Inspirational Inspirational