One of the most helpful analogies I’ve found for life with my Australian cattle dog, Scout, is that our relationship is like a jar of marbles.
When I advocate for her, make things fun, and build trust, we put a few marbles in. When I make a mistake, confuse her, or react unfairly, we take a few marbles out.
What really matters at the end of the day is that the jar isn’t empty — that, even though it’s inevitable to lose a marble here and there (ha ), the ultimate volume still grows over time.
The marble jar represents trust
I’ve heard versions of this analogy from a few different places, but my personal favorite is in Brene Brown’s book Daring Greatly.
My partner Sean and I read it out loud together last winter, and this way of looking at relationships — especially the complicated, far-from-black-and-white area of trust — really stuck with me.
We aren’t defined by any single moment
I have a tendency to focus in on specific moments. A single win feels like the ultimate success… and a single mi…
