Problem Solving + My Dog

 My mom and I got a puppy last January. I wanted a dog for the longest time and I would ask my mom every month for probably 3 years. I kind of gave up on the idea and told myself I would get myself a dog after college when I have my own place. Then, at the end of December in 2021 my mom and I both got Covid and had nothing to do. We talked a lot over the course of 2 weeks being stuck in our house. She agreed to look into getting a puppy. We decided on a golden retriever because it’s both of our favorite breeds of dog. We went to pick her up and fell in love with her right away. Her personality is like no other. 1 year later and she’s a 60 pound dog with lots of fur and energy. She seemed to solve all of our problems, if we were having a bad day she always puts a smile on our face. Working through problems looks different for everyone. I definitely like to distract myself from problems and my dog is great for that. I find nothing wrong with a good distraction if it’s something that makes you happy. A lot of this relates to chapter 1 from our textbook. Critical thinking can sometimes be useful when a problem arises. According to the book, you need to be actively engaged and appreciate creativity. You also need to have a sense that life is full of possibilities. Whenever I have a problem I like to engage with it in a way that allows me to not give up or dread the problem. After you face a problem it can be useful to use deep learning from the textbook. After you face the problem, think about what else it connects to and how you can solve it. Think about how the small problem can be linked to a big picture. After reflecting on a happy story for me and how my dog helps me with my problems, I think this topic relates very well to chapter 1.