My friends were visiting this weekend. They also brought their wonderful cheerful fluffy snowball dog Uma (pronounced "oo-ma").

I loved seeing her running just for the joy of it in the fields.

I loved how she was greeting all the people and dogs and cats and everyone she met.

The biggest lesson from her was different, though.

Uma had fear too. She doesn't like driving much.

Her cheerful self turned into a quiet and reserved one.

Sometimes she was shaking too.

Like humans, dogs can be afraid, angry, etc.

Here goes the lesson.

Once Uma was out of the car, she immediately came back to her usual joyful self.

She didn't cling to fear.

She didn't invent fear in safe situations too.

That is the difference, as I see it.

Dogs, once out from a stressful situation, let go of emergency emotions right away.

As it seems to me, this allows them to live in the moment and experience joy on the level we, humans, often admire.

Honestly, I am feeling down these weeks.

It's sometimes hard to see the light.

But Uma taught me the simple lesson.

I keep hearing it repeatedly and still mastering it.

The lesson of the power of letting go.

Letting go doesn't mean we deny that we experience emergency emotions.

It means acknowledging them and letting them go.

I am also curious to know: what are your lessons from the dogs/pets/animals?