Audacious Compassion 020 – Cute Cat Photo

How can you accept your feelings and still make intentional choices when you’re in an unpleasant situation?

Our prompt comes from a listener:

Dear Y’all,

Help me not hate my puppy.

My teenage son called me in a panic recently because our puppy had bitten him on the finger. It turned out that it was a bit of an overreaction, as it was a scratch (the puppy is only four pounds). But I still find myself really disliking the dog. I know he’s a dog and a puppy. But in addition to biting my son, he also barks, which jars my nerves.

I don’t like that I have all of these negative feelings about a baby animal who really can’t help these behaviors. But here we are.

Halp.

Anxious in Puppyland

We also talk about Stardew Valley by Eric Barone and Giant Days by John Allison, Lissa Treiman, and Max Sarin.

Please share any comments you have! If you have a submission of an everyday situation where it’s hard for you to be empathetic or compassionate, write us at: us@avery-weir.net