The Positive Dog: A Story About the Power of Positivity

What Would Bubba Do?

Bubba wouldn't let sadness take him down a spiral staircase of despair. Bubba would turn a negative event into a positive outcome. He would transform a challenge into an opportunity to make a difference. Instead of focusing on what he had lost, Bubba would focus on what could be gained. Matt decided that if Bubba would and could do it, he should and could too.

With Bubba gone, it was up to him to take the lead and share and teach positivity. He didn't know how much longer he would be at the shelter, but he did know that he should make the most of the time he had there. Bubba was proof that dreams could come true, and so Matt kept his hope and vision alive while taking action to feed the positive dog in others.

He mentored other dogs the way Bubba had mentored him—especially the new dogs that came to the shelter and the old dogs that had been there the longest. He found that the young pups were the most open-minded, and once he helped a bunch of them become more positive, he showed the old dogs what positivity could do. He told the old dogs to think like rookies and not let their past experiences hold them back. He told them not to focus on the good old days and believe their best days were behind them. “Instead,” he told them, “create your good old days right now and believe that even better days are ahead of you.”

Matt taught all of the dogs at the shelter the importance of feeding the positive dog and shared strategies to help them do it. Of course, there ...