I guess I never really understood the Principle of Appreciation until I was taught what it really meant by a little dog named Tanuna. I thought I did, but like all really profound events in your life, the true essence of the learning took me completely by surprise.

I was in the habit of buying a package of dog biscuits every week when I did my grocery shopping. Then on the weekends when I travelled from Detroit down to the farm in Ohio, I’d have treats for my three four-legged friends. The treats came packaged four biscuits to a pack and so inevitably I’d always have an extra one. Most of the time I just kept the extra one in the back of my car and pulled them out at an opportune time.

Tanuna was the first one I’d see as I arrived at the farm, and she would always be so excited when I got out of the car. She would run up to see me, jumping and barking, and even though she was tied on a clothes line, she still managed to put on quite a show. It always made me feel good to be so warmly greeted. I would give her the cookie and she would leap on it and quickly bring it back to her house where she immediately enjoyed it.

I continued down the hill to the main building in the valley and stop and talk to Inka and Winna on my way. Though I raised Inka and she was always happy to see me, she did not always seem to be terribly enthralled about my gift. Winna would often be happy to be patted but rarely made a fuss over the treat I left with her.

One weekend I had put the cookies in my pocket and passed them out as I went. Since there were four cookies, I ended with one left over in my pocket. I wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about the idea of walking around all weekend with a dog biscuit in my pocket and yet didn’t feel good about just throwing it away. I decided to give it to one of the dogs as an additional treat. Almost instinctively I headed towards Tanuna because I knew how much she liked them.

It dawned on me, this was the key to the Principle of Appreciation! The whole universe must work and react exactly the same way I had. Whenever something given is appreciated there is a natural tendency to provide more so as to increase the joy.

That is why people who seem to appreciate even the smallest little joy in their lives seem to always be the ones having good things happen to them. It’s the natural explanation for why good things always seem to happen to happy, fortunate people. Their actions simply attract them.

I was amazed again how the most profound realizations always seem to come through in the most unexpected moments, and through the most unlikely teachers.

This story has been given by Red Sun Rising,
a Medicine Carrier of the Yunsai Society.