Have you ever heard of “kicking the dog?” Not to be confused with “kicking the bucket”… “hitting the
hay”… “barking up the wrong tree.”

“Kicking the dog” means when something bad happens to us, and we feel powerless to make things
right, we may take out our frustrations on our dog. The dog is the one thing we think we have power over.

The opposite is also true. When good things happen to us, it is easier for us to take good care of ourselves. When we ourselves are well taken care of and have plenty of energy, we are better able to be kind, loving, and helpful to others. In other words, when your “tank is full” you can be at your best, rather than taking out your frustrations on the dog or other people.

Tips for keeping your tank full …

1. Take good care of yourself.

2. Make sure you have people around you who will take care of you when you need extra love and attention.

3. Keep your tank full of the good messages and good deeds you receive from others. Just like with gas in the car, you need to look for these good messages and deeds. They don’t magically appear when your tank is low.

Keeping your personal tank full (just like in a car) takes some work. Using the car comparison even further, the electric car is a breakthrough. It’s much easier to fill that tank – at home – with no standing outside in the weather and with free time to do other things while getting re-energized.

We need a breakthrough like that for our own personal tanks. Too often we wait for someone else to notice we are empty and give us what we need. It would be better if we plugged in to ways to be more independent and responsible for ourselves and our own tank.  Something to think about. What can I do for myself when my tank is low?