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Recently, we took a long road trip in our car—we took along our two Labradoodles! The trip lasted over 10 days. We stayed in four different hotels. Of the four, some were better than others. My wife and I complained about some of the accommodations. The room wasn’t right, the size wasn’t big enough, and the grounds were not kept to our satisfaction. The price was too much or the hotel wasn’t in the best part of town. Between my wife and I we found so many things wrong with the accommodations.

Do you know who didn’t join in complaining? Sophie and Tucker, our two dogs. They didn’t care if it was a nice room or not. They didn’t complain about the breakfast bar or the carpet color or it’s wear! They didn’t complain that they had no natural grass to relieve themselves on in the desert of Arizona, only rocks. No, those two were stoic! Not a murmur escaped their lips! Mostly they just enjoyed the trip without nary a complaint!

In the middle of the trip, I was just watching them in the hotel room. They were both happy to be there. Both were lying on the bed with those never-ending faces of love. And I said to myself, “Those dogs don’t really care about their surroundings at all! The only thing they care about is being loved by me and my wife.” Sitting in that hotel room chair, I couldn’t help but envy them and think how wonderful it must be just to be happy to be with the ones you love. And I thought, “What a simple and grand life.”

And then the moment passed, and I started worrying about everything in my life—everything! But I wonder now if I can’t learn something from my Doddle’s life. Being with loved ones was their basic need. Everything else was…well…negotiable. Maybe I’m throwing away a lot of happiness because I negotiate it out of my life. That’s something for all of us to ponder.