Love, Miracles & Leo.

A few months back, one of my neighbours brought home a very sick dog from Blue Cross. This dog was handed over to the Blue Cross from the police dept since he was suffering from a rare neurological disorder and instead of putting him down, the dept handed him over to Blue Cross for care during its last days.

My neighbour Mukund is a volunteer in Blue Cross and this dog soon became very attached to him. He was so sick that eating was a punishment and he refused to eat at his feed times. However every time Mukund came over for his volunteering, this dog made an effort to eat if Mukund fed him.

Soon, even Blue Cross was wondering whether  to put him down since he was getting weaker and weaker daily. Mukund was able to visit only twice a week amongst his other committments and the food this dog was intaking was not sufficient to keep him going.

Mukund then took a bold decision of asking Blue Cross to let him adopt this dog and keep him at home. Obviously Blue Cross was happy to let him go.

So that's when I first met with Leo, a 2 year old Labrador that was nothing but a sack of skin and bones. He walked in a very pained and laboured manner and showed no interest in anything around him. He was the sickest dog I had ever seen and I was pained to even look at him and wondered whether it would have been kinder to put him to sleep.

Mukund's father used to walk him regularly and I kept far away from them because I was feeling very bad to look at him suffer.

The weeks became months and I was witness to the gradual decline of this magnificent dog and saw him getting more and more shrunken and every step seemed a punishment for him. I asked uncle, what was the prognosis. Would he get better or would he just degenerate further? Uncle said that the doctor was not sure and they were wondering what would be kinder since he was throwing up whatever he was eating and he was passing a lot of blood.

But one day, I happened to see Leo holding a ball in his mouth and walking a little brisker than normal. I was so pleased to see him a little alive and asked uncle what happened. He said, now he's able to hold in the food that they were hand feeding him and he was showing some interest in his surroundings. I was witness to the gradual turn around in Leo's health and I didn't feel bad any more in approaching him and talking to uncle and Leo.

Today it's almost 6 months since Leo moved into our community and he is such a bubbly, healthy, playful, friendly, obedient 2.5 yr old Lab. His doctor has termed it a miracle. All of us who are privileged to being witness to him and this family would term it a miracle.

Whatever anyone else says, I've seen this miracle unfold in front of my eyes for the last 4 months. The unconditional love that this family showered on this canine. Uncle, Aunty, Mukund each treated him with kid gloves and abundant love. It shone through in all their actions for this doggy soul. And he responded and came back to give them joy today.

He's bounced back and beaten the deadly disease to pay back to this family with all that he can give.

He's now making friends with the other dogs in the complex and here he's seen with Jazz a pug.

And here he is with Mukund.

Uncle with Leo and Jazz

We have no clue to how powerful love can be. Unconditional love seems to conquer all barriers. Even death.

Thank God for allowing me to be witness to this miracle and thank all the souls who have contributed to this happy beginning :) 

Pain now or more pain later? That is the question.

Last weekend when I went for a run with my running group, I noticed a poster on the wall of the local gym that really intrigued me.
"We must all suffer one of two pains. The pain of discipline or the pain of regret."

This is the first time I came across these words and it has been playing in my mind ever since.
I want to make large posters of these and put them all over my house.
I want these words to remind me, whenever I feel lazy, when I procrastinate, when I make excuses to myself to put off stuff that I know I should be doing.
If I can just remember these words at all times, I ought to be able to fill my life with productive moments where I knock off all pending stuff and keep myself like a well-oiled machine that delivers results day in and day out.

I have a fair share of regrets in my kitty and yes I could have handled those situations better if I was a tad more disciplined than what I am now. If I'd handled the pain of discipline, my body would be in a better condition than what it is now. My finances would be much better than what it is now. Some of my relationships would also have been better off than what it is now. There are many areas of my life that would be looking so much better now, if I'd exerted a little discipline in the past.

At least from now on, I would like these words to be etched in my mind so that I choose the smaller pain of discipline now as against the huge pain of regret that I would have to bear later.

For me, running is a great way to build discipline and to build a culture of excellence. Every time I push myself further or harder, it helps strengthen my mind and my self discipline and it seems to works in other areas of my life too. Running is the best thing that has happened to me in the recent past and I'm glad that I have a lovely group to do it with.

Pick up an activity that works for you and through which you can learn to tame your mind and exert self-control and discipline over it. It's the most liberating feeling in the world when you are able to set yourself a goal and achieve it.

Embrace the short-term pain. It contains massive long term gains :)
Live. Love. Be happy