“…..Like A Dog”
With Valentine’s Day approaching, here is a thought on love and romantic relationships.
A couple are arguing, with one party complaining that the other treats them poorly and says “you treat me like a dog”. The correct response is “you should be so lucky”.
The relationship between a dog and it’s owner can be a lesson for us all in how we treat the humans we have, or wish to have a relationship with.
When I was a young man my family had a dog named Butch. My Father once said this about Butch, “When I come home from work, Butch is always happy to see me, no matter what kind of day Butch had”.
In other words, a dog loves it’s owner unconditionally, not just or only when it feels like it.
Dog owners love their dogs unconditionally also. They lovingly give and care for their dogs no matter what the owners life was like before they got the dog, or what is going on presently.
Why does one love their dog unconditionally, yet has trouble doing that with the humans in their life? Dog owners love their dogs unconditionally even though they have to pick up their poop, yet they can’t pick up the poop of the humans in their life (this is a metaphor!). Why is that?
Does the dog love it’s owner unconditionally because it knows it’s loved unconditionally, or the other way around, or both?
“Any love that is dependent on something — when the thing ceases, the love also ceases. But a love that is not dependent on any thing never ceases…” – Ethics of the Fathers, 5:16
Here are some other quotes on love to ponder
“I am to my beloved, and my beloved is to me” – Song of Songs 6:3
“Love is a special word, and I use it only when I mean it. You say the word too much and it becomes cheap.” – Ray Charles
“The minute I heard my first love story I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was. Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere. They’re in each other all along.” – Jalal ad-Din Rumi
“Love comes unseen; we only see it go.” – Austin Dobson
Click on the titles below to read some previously published thoughts and quotes on having, keeping, and finding love
Love Is A Many Splendored Thing
“Love, Love, Love – All You Need Is Love”, The Beatles
“Looking For Love In All The Wrong Places”
Heart and Soul
The Spinning Rabbi - Heart & Soul 