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The other morning, while exercising at the gym, I had a work-related stress playing on an endless loop in my head. Even though the incident had happened a week earlier, I was still obsessing over the whole ordeal (wishing I'd said things I didn't say at the time, wishing the other party would come to their senses, wishing the whole thing would go away, etc.). Needless to say, my worrying about this incident only made things worse in my mind and even though I'd had a productive workout, left me in a gloomy mental state as I left the gym.
It was while driving home from working out that I remembered one of the key commands I picked up during dog training that I use pretty frequently with my puppy, Latte.
As anyone who has a dog probably knows, our canine friends occasionally come across a smell, a chicken bone or some other foul object that excites their senses to no end. It's at this moment that we must command them to "Leave it!" in a terse, authoritative way so that they don't get into trouble, hurt themselves or end up rolling in something disgusting.
Even though I had been expertly trained to use this command with Latte, I realized after my workout of mental duress that perhaps I needed to use this command on myself. After all, as mentioned, this particular stressful situation had happened a week earlier. So at this point, no one else (not even the supposed offending party) was responsible for my stress and worry other than yours truly. On a virtual level, I was "rolling" in something disgusting. In this case, my own self-defeating thoughts.
Suddenly I realized... I was the one who needed to "Leave it!"
When Latte is told to "Leave it," he usually jumps (having been "caught" doing something that he should know better than to do) and then quickly moves away from the offensive object and is soon distracted by another smell, a passing pooch or some other form of whimsy. Similarly, by telling ourselves to "leave" something that's weighing us down (figuratively or otherwise), we then, too, have the opportunity to move on to other things—more pleasant things, and with a cleared mind, perhaps even a potential solution to whatever we think we can't solve while in the throes of "Why me?" We can't undo what's transpired. But we can move on if we choose to.
I imagine that, like myself, many of you reading this are sometimes plagued by situations, incidences or predicaments that sometimes can't be washed away from our psyches—as if obsessing over them might offer a solution (which, really, the obsessing never does). Instead, we need to just let it go, move on and welcome another scent (or situation) that can offer us not only new ideas, but also peace.
All together now: "Leave it!"
I'll conclude by adding that if you ever see me working out with a scowl, feel free to walk over and tersely tell me to, "Leave it!" Like my puppy, Latte, I might jump (having also been "caught"). But I'll appreciate the reminder that some things need to be left where they belong... In the past.
