Lola is one of our dogs. She is wild, anxious, hyperactive, always moving, and always trying to be in the action. She is also very playful and loving. Lola loves kissing and snuggling. She is also a daredevil. She jumps over furniture, runs like crazy until she falls on her face, chases squirrels and birds, fetches, and enjoys exploring. After we moved to the new house, for a while we walked her and Bohdi with their leashes on. After a few weeks, I started letting them free in the backyard. We didn’t have a fence so we had to watch them closely.

Lately, Lola started venturing beyond the permitted area of the backyard towards the street. Seriously?! We have a pretty big backyard followed by almost an acre of land towards the back of the house where she can play safely and freely. However, Lola wanted to run towards the street, and several times put herself in danger of being hit by a car. In her last attempt to run towards the street a car avoided her just in time as she ran towards the street as if in a race. We had to put her back on a leash until we got a fence in place. Now she can run freely and safely again in the backyard with minimal supervision.

What makes Lola runs toward danger when she has so much freedom towards the back of the house? Lola reminds me of Adam and Eve. They had available all the trees in the garden to eat and enjoy, but one; the one they were prohibited to eat from. We all know the story and heard many interpretations of it. What makes people do things like that everyday? Why do we insist to put ourselves in harm’s way towards the danger zone, when we have the freedom to run safely towards the opposite side? What do we take what is prohibited when we have so much given to us to enjoy? Why do we risk our freedom when it was granted to us? All we have to do is remain within the parameters that were provided for our own good.

It is very likely at this point that you are expecting me to answer those questions. It is very likely that in your mind, you already developed a few answers and statements to justify the answers. It is possible that you ask the same questions about yourself when you fall back to the same mistakes of the past and get hurt all over again. How many more situations we have to see or experience before we live freely and safely within the lines before we get hurt? I would love to ask Lola why she does what she does, but she can’t articulate in human language her reasoning, if any, behind her behavior. Perhaps, I can ask you. Why do you risk your safety? Why do you risk your freedom? How many more times are you going to do the same things expecting different results?