I have learned so much since India has come to live with me; now just over three months ago.

She’s an undetermined type of spaniel and poodle mix (a Spoodle?), mostly black with a white chest and belly and white tipped paws and center stripe along her snout. She’s between a year and two years old.

She’s about 23 pounds. Curious and affectionate, very good with people and other dogs. She’ll be single-minded if she sees a squirrel she wants to chase, but has the sweetest temperament.

Of course, there’s the obvious ways she has brought change into my life.

I have a greater appreciation for routine. Not that I don’t enjoy a spontaneous adventure, but there’s something very grounding about having breakfast, or maybe a walk, at about the same time each day.

Actually, having time slots already designated for certain activities is sort of liberating. As any day goes on, I already know what time I can use for new activities.  I plan better.  I don’t feel rushed as often.

I have made a better habit of getting up and stretching. I have a greater respect for play.

It used to be automatic to sit at my desk all day, talking on the phone or eyes locked on my computer monitor. Now, upon seeing India curled up on her blanket in the corner of my office, and I’ll take breaks more often.

We’ll play fetch with a small green rubber ball down the long hallway of my apartment. Watching her slide on my hardwood floors, in hot pursuit of the ball, always makes me smile.

She reminds me that it’s okay, if I have no other commitments, to take a nap in the middle of the day.

Of course, she’s taught me a lot about love.

She greets me enthusiastically when I return home after being out in the world, no matter how long or short I’ve been away. She follows me around at times as if she is interested everything I do.

She shows me how happy she is when I rub her belly. She barks protectively when a strange noise can be detected in my building and is not ashamed of seeking me out or crawling into bed with me during a thunderstorm.

She can show herself as fierce or vulnerable…

And I don’t have to DO anything to win her love. Perhaps, especially when you’re young, it’s easy to confuse love with approval. Love is given freely from a sense of belonging together or the simple pleasure of being near someone’s energy.

One doesn’t deserve (or not deserve) to be loved.

But I think the biggest lesson I’ve learned from India has to do with the virtues of having a short-term memory and optimistic nature.

When I wake up in the morning, I’ll naturally stretch out my legs. Maybe I’ll turn over on my stomach and try to enjoy another few minutes of sleep, or maybe I’ll roll over to a spot on my mattress where I hadn’t made a recent impression.

India, who usually sleeps on the area rug at the foot of my bed, seems to know when I’m awake and not merely following a cue to move from some unspecified dream time source. And when she senses I’m awake, she runs to the side of my bed.

She puts her front paws on the edge of my white sheets and balances on her hind legs. She does a sort of stutter step to keep her head, which she tilts to the side, above the top edge of my bed.

She is soooo excited – eager for me to pat the top of her head, and happy that I’m now going to join her in being awake. Her whole panting-stretching-dancing body seems to be saying, Come on. Get up. Get up.

NEW DAY

That’s the greatest gift of all, to remember that any moment is a good time to start over.

Starting each day with enthusiasm, trusting that everything you might need will be provided, is no small thing.