Mindful versus Unintended Consequences

According to Psychology Today, "Mindfulness is a state of active, open attention on the present. When you're mindful, you observe your thoughts and feelings from a distance, without judging them good or bad. Instead of letting your life pass you by, mindfulness means living in the moment and awakening to experience."

Sometimes, a less than fortunate event reminds us of what we need to do to improve, stay safe, or avoid problems. This morning I had an experience that reminded me of the importance of mindfulness. Yogi and were doing our Hound Around Town, (HAT) exercise.  This is a working dog moment, he wears his "In Training" vest and that means he is working. This is where we walk through a town on the sidewalks. around people, passing outside seating in restaurants, cross streets etc. It is to prepare for the Canine Good Citizen test and certification which we want to attempt when we get back to Washington. I usually start up the bike path along the ocean, where we run into bicycles, other walkers, walkers with dogs, skateboards and such, it is much wider and there are fewer bottlenecks. Also, if he is going to poop on the walk I would prefer he do it in the grass than in town.

And poop is exactly what happened. I pulled my biodegradable bag out of my pocket and wasn't really paying attention, wasn't being mindful, and I ended up getting poop on one of the fingers of my left hand. Bummer. I wiped my finger off in the grass to the extent possible. Decided to keep the bag in my left hand. Now Yogi is trained to walk on my left side especially when he is working. Found myself holding the lead in my right hand with him walking on my left, not ideal. When Yogi was younger walking was stressful for him and I would sometimes let him pick up a stick and carry it in his mouth, it calmed him down. However, when he is working and especially during a HAT exercise he is never allowed to put his mouth on anything. With one hand, the wrong hand, I could not maintain positive control and he picked up a stick. I decided not to make an issue of it. The good news is that there was a public beach bathroom 100 yards away with a trashcan and outdoor sink. I threw away the bag, cleaned up, gave him a Drop It command for the stick and we resumed the HAT exercise.

As we worked our way from the bike path to the sidewalks of Kapaa town I was reflecting on Mindfulness and Unintended Consequences. Here is hoping I learn something!

The definition of unintended consequences, Business Dictionary puts it this way, "A term used to describe a set of results that was not intended as an outcome. Though unintended consequences may be anticipated or unanticipated, they should be the product of specific actions within the process. The concept of unintended consequences is part of the Six Sigma philosophy and encompasses three types of results: positive effects, potential problems that may result in a reduction of quality, and negative effects."