A Dog. A Bone. And Long Term Sacrifices.

(Thank you, God.  For the enlightenment.)

My dog taught me something about life and humanity.

A dog, especially when young and untrained, sees only short term gratification.  You put a small bone in front of him.  He drools, follows the person carrying the bone and grabs it.  You put a small treat in front of him.  He drools, follows the person carrying the treat and grabs it.  There is no consideration of consequences.

He does not evaluate whether grabbing that bone or treat would cause him to lose sight of his owner, potentially forever.  He does not evaluate whether that bone or treat is more important than otherwise many years ahead of comfort and happiness with his owner who gives him shelter, food, love and many many more treats.  He does not question whether taking that bone or treat from someone would lead him to wander the streets or to be captured as a breeding dog.  He does not consider how traumatized his owner will be, having lost him.  He sees only the bone.  The treat.  Food.

I think this applies to humans too.  Sometimes we do lose sight of what is truly important in life.  We make long term sacrifices for short term gratification, only to regret in the future when it is too late.  We've all been through that.  We've all been a dog at least once in our lives.