The Application of Forward Motion.

Looking back causes a million memories to swirl through our minds. The past sticks with us forever, and will always bring with it an emotional waterfall of minuscule moments to flood our subconscious. We are constantly recreating ourselves for this very reason, changing, learning, adapting.  The choices we make today, the choices we make tomorrow, and the day after that all revolve around our previous endeavors and encounters. The real question is whether you understand the past well enough to shape your future.

In agility, we all know how to present material to the dogs, shape it, and achieve a desired result. We can control almost every behavior they learn, and curb the rest to our means. The events in their lives are taken advantage of at every point; socialization as puppies, trialing/training in new places for experience, giving them every advantage we possibly can, so they can be successful, happy, and enjoy the sport as much as we do. But what about our own lives, are we in control?  Without control, the only response can be regret, looking back and seeing what wasn't. Not taking advantage of the situation, not making the most of every day, letting a chance slip through your fingers…is simply wasting a perfectly good opportunity. Dogs live in the moment; they do remember what they have learned and apply it, but they don’t regret. They keep moving they don’t slow down to let the past catch up with them.

Disappointment, worry, bitterness, regret, what’s the point? There is no advantage to dwelling on the past, brooding on what has already happened. I used to find myself looking back after every run (good or bad) and finding something that could have been slightly better…regardless of how happy I was with the dog’s performance. But it never helped. Now, instead of finding things that could have been better in that particular run, I try take one thing out of it that I can perfect for future use. One thing that takes me to the next level, gives my dogs a new skill, or teaches me a new handling move. It used to be about what could of happened, it became about improvement, knowledge, and controlling the future for once. No regret, no disappointment, no worries, just forward motion.