A Focus on Dog Poop?

During a beautiful winter day, I took my dog for a walk along the Cape Cod Canal. As always, I bring her over to the woods before we get our exercise. Typically, I enjoy practicing mindfulness while taking my walks and almost never listen to music or use my phone. On this particular day, I decided to try out (unsuccessfully, might I add) a new music app I had just installed. As my dog climbed under the fence to sniff the perfect spot to do her business, I fiddled with the perfect playlist. At one point, I turned to look towards the water and noticed a woman staring at me as she was walking. I couldn't hear anything with my ear buds in but I assumed she was talking to her family members and that she must be a dog lover if she's stopped to watch us.

Sila, my black lab, took her sweet time as we continued to walk at the edge of the wooded area. She finally climbed under the fence, into the thick brush, under some thorny branches and pooped. Once she was done, we began to move towards the paved walkway to begin our exercise. As I turned, I noticed the same woman had continued to walk at our pace. She was stopped and I could see her lips moving as we made our way closer and suddenly I thought, "Is she talking to me?"

I pulled out one ear bud, expecting that she was one of the many dog lovers on the canal and instead realized she was actually screaming at me! I didn't catch a whole lot of what she said before removing my music but what I did hear is how sick and tired she was of people who didn't pick up their dog's poop! I realized that as my dog had been taking her sweet time to find the perfect spot in an area where no one would ever walk, this woman was policing me, waiting to see if I would do her idea of the "right thing".

I calmly and politely said that she is particular about where she goes and prefers the woods.  I purposely took her to the woods and thick brush where no one would ever walk.   Not to mention, the last thing our earth needs is one more plastic bag that will be around forever.  Just like the deer, coyote and raccoon poop, I figured Sila's poop will be gone in a matter of a few weeks, too. Now had I let the dog go on a traveled wooded path, on the grassy area where kids often play and certainly on the paved walkway along the canal, her yelling at me would have been absolutely warranted, but in the woods, behind the fence and under the thorns?

Nothing I said was good enough for this woman so I put my ear buds back in to enjoy the rest of our walk.

This interaction got me thinking.....what makes some people step onto the beautiful Cape Cod Canal on an extremely rare 70 degree, sunny New England day in winter and take a deep breath of gratitude for such a gem of a moment and others choose something so very different? In the 5 plus minutes it took Sila to pick a spot, this woman chose not to focus on the incredible beauty before her or take the opportunity to spend precious weekend time with her family members to instead stand in expectation of a perfect stranger disappointing her. I have no idea how many others she decided to police that day but I felt compassion for her and her inability to put aside her deep frustration with others and simply enjoy the moment.

This experience also got me thinking about how long we decide to hold onto other people's judgment. If this had been you and your dog, how might you have responded?  Would you have let this woman ruin your walk or your own ability to see the gift of such a beautiful winter day?

Where we put our focus is our choice. It can be on peace or it can be on frustration. It can be on beauty or, if you so choose, it can certainly be on dog poop. And where you put your focus will yield the kind of day, week-  and even life you will experience.

You really are that powerful.