The Dog Who Chose Sunshine Over Sympathy

I did a reading the other day that kind of... stopped me in my tracks? And ended up giving me an unexpected lesson in focusing on the joy in the present moment… even in the worst moments.

I went into this reading thinking it was going to be pretty straightforward, you know? The lady wanted to connect with her dog, hear about her personality, see how she was feeling—the usual fun, lighthearted stuff. I love those kinds of readings where it's just... easy and sweet.

So I'm tuning in, and the dog is sharing all these messages about wanting to be outside, wanting to play, wanting to enjoy time with her person. I picked up on some discomfort in my stomach area, but honestly? I didn't think much of it at the time. Sometimes I get random sensations that don't seem particularly significant in the moment.

We finished the reading and I thought that was that—a nice, simple session. But then at the very end, the lady dropped the bombshell: "Oh, by the way, she was just diagnosed with cancer. In her stomach. Poor prognosis, not much time left."

And I just... stopped. Because suddenly all those messages I'd been receiving took on this completely different weight. The stomach discomfort I'd felt? That made sense now. But more than that—this dog, who knew something was wrong in her body, who had every reason to be scared or sad or asking for comfort... she was asking to go play in the sunshine. She was focused on joy, not grief.

I'll be honest, my first reaction when I heard "cancer" was that wave of sadness you'd expect😞 And I would have expected a dog with not much time left would be depressed, maybe reminiscing on her life, or at the very least, giving her person a wish list of all the ‘last’ things she wanted to do before she left.

But this dog? She had completely different priorities. And when I realized what the dog had actually been telling me the whole time, and it kind of... shifted something in me

Her message was so clear: she wanted her person to stop drowning in the sadness of what was coming and instead focus on right now. She wanted to go outside and play in the sunshine. She wanted to feel the grass and run around (even if it was slower than before) and just... be with her person in the joy of it. Not in the grief. Not in the "how much time do we have left." Just in the sunshine, together.

I don't know why, but that hit me so hard. Like, here's this dog who despite the sadness and unfairness of it all, was asking for play. For connection. For the good stuff while it's still here.

And it made me realize (in that uncomfortable way where you see yourself too clearly🙄) how much time I spend—how much time we spend—focusing on what we're going to lose instead of what we actually have. I'll be with my own animals and catch myself thinking "I can't imagine when they're gone" instead of just... being there with them in that moment. Or I'll worry about when something good is going to end instead of enjoying that it's happening at all.

This dog's message wasn't complicated. It was just, "can we please go play in the sunshine?" But it was a profound life lesson wrapped in spiritual wisdom nonetheless.

I think I'm still processing this one, honestly. But I'm grateful her person let me be part of that conversation. And I'm grateful to that sweet dog for the reminder that sometimes the most important thing we can do is to just show up for the good stuff while it's still here. Somehow that feels like exactly the reminder I needed right now. (Maybe we all need it.) Because the joy is here. The love is here. And yeah, things change and nothing lasts forever... but maybe that's exactly why we should be outside playing in the sunshine, while we still can.✨.