Last week, I met a 16 (and a half) year old Cocker Spaniel with a purpose. It was the first time we'd been formally introduced. I'd given him and his owners a courteous nod, 'good morning' from time to time. And my Labrador, Frankie and he had given each other the obligatory good morning sniff on more than one occasion.
On this particular morning, I just had to stop and chat to his owners, because this wasn't the first time I'd seen their darling dog holding some form of reading material in his mouth. The previous times, it had been a part of the newspaper. This time, it was an envelope. I asked his owners if it was a letter from his pen pa(w)l. They laughed and explained that for years (especially in his elderly dog years), he'd refused to walk home with them, unless they gave him something to carry. It was unclear to me if he wanted to carry something to assist his owners, or if he wanted to read the paper or letter over breakfast - before his owners. But what this gesture reinforced to me was this: if you're a sentient being, the trials and tribulations of life are far more bearable if you have a purpose. A reason to get out of the bed in the morning. And a reason to stay up, once you're out of bed.
Neurologist, psychologist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl believed that one’s purpose is fluid throughout one’s life. He maintained that the meaning of life differs “from day to day and from hour to hour. What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a person’s life at a given moment.” Alex Rogers believes that “purpose is the great divider that separates those who are simply living, from those who are truly alive.” And Michael J. Fox, who by his own admission, let ego get the better of him when his television and movie career was at its peak, believes that “purpose is something for which one is responsible; it’s not just divinely assigned.”
Which got me thinking back to my encounter with the erudite 16 (and a half) year old Cocker Spaniel. At first blush, the sight of a gorgeous dog carrying printed materials made me laugh out loud and put a spring in my step. He had a purpose! A reason to get out of his bed in the morning. And no doubt, his purpose evolved throughout the day, depending on the circumstances at that given moment. If his owner feels under the weather, he’ll most likely snuggle into the crook of her arm to comfort her. If a stranger walks up to the front door, he’ll probably bark to alert the owners. In his own mind and heart, he’s solely responsible for these day-to-day activities. It’s these gestures that make him feel truly alive – beyond the average age span for this particular breed of dog! If only we could bottle his joie de vivre!
I felt a mix of admiration for this little being and a pang of shame that I haven’t yet managed to articulate my own life’s purpose. Surely there’s more that I can do? More that I can be? I have an inexplicably long list of blessings; both in the context of the world at large and in this first world country. And when I start to write the list of blessings on a piece of paper, I truly struggle to put the pen down. How extraordinarily lucky am I! It is indeed my responsibility to work out my greater purpose and I’ll not stop until I’ve figured out exactly what that looks like. What that sounds like. What that feels like.
One thing is for certain: the next time I see that Cocker Spaniel, I’ll be sure to shake his paw and thank him for igniting a train of thought that can only end well.
In the meantime, as I look down at my own darling dog, I’m reminded that one of my many reasons for getting out of bed is a constant. An unconditionally loving and enduring source of joy (with a touch of 'tude), whose big brown eyes constantly search my own, pleading with me to announce, “let’s grab a coffee and some brunch, whaddaya think?” And just like that, I remember yet another reason to get out of bed in the morning.
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