The new mantra I learned while walking my dogs….

If you know me at all, you know how crazy I am about our pups.

We do our best to take them absolutely everywhere possible and have grown accustomed to taking road trips instead of flying somewhere, just to ensure they get to go with us.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, we were recently in Las Vegas during part of our road trip and, while other people are not particularly their thing, I did take Breck and Lilo out for a brief walk on the Strip one day so we could get our room cleaned.

Not that I’m ever surprised by this, but they draw a lot of attention – to them, and especially, in a situation where the majority of people are walking around with a cocktail, back to me.

With Breck, he’s still rather small, but his 30-pound bulky frame can still match up next to me pretty well. But as tall as I am, when it comes to Lilo, I don’t totally fit the mold of someone that might be walking an 8-pound chihuahua (mix) on the Las Vegas Strip – when her dainty little leash is narrower than my pinky finger.

Naturally, as I’m walking them in a pretty condensed area, I’m very cognizant of their surroundings and making sure that they’re always out of harm’s way – but that also leads me to consistently observe others as they approach us, watching them eye the pups first and then their eyes redirect to me walking them.

And oh, the grins, smirks and giggles I get. Even some eye rolls…. But whatever (with love). I mean, come on – it’s kind of a funny thought, right?

The plethora of reactions I was getting immediately triggered a certain thought in me – if I had any iota of self-consciousness running through me, these looks and (seeming) judgments could absolutely rip me apart on the inside. I sure am glad I’m secure enough with myself to walk and take close care of these small pooches with so many… interesting… people around.

Look – this isn’t a new thing either. I’ve actually heard people whisper pretty harsh things under their breath to me when we’ve taken them to large social gatherings. I still just let that shit slide (aside from the fact, I suppose, that I do remember those instances still).

But this quick walk along a small portion of the Strip, along with my observations and thoughts, prompted me to come up with a new mantra for myself that I’ve realized would instantly pick me up if I ever felt like my chin was sagging and I just didn’t have ‘it’ that day…

Live in the space of confidence that I owned while walking my 8 pound dog through the trenches of the Strip.

Ok – so it’s a little wordy… and it doesn’t particularly roll off the tongue.

But what I’ve found is that it’s something I can think about and know, if I can own that shit, I can manifest that confidence for anything.

So the next time you need a boost, just envision the exuding confidence coming from the 6’3” guy walking 2 dogs that are barely taller than his ankle down the Las Vegas Strip amongst the bros, the sloppy day-drinkers and the con artists.

Because if that guy can walk tall, smiling down the sidewalk – I’m positive you could do the same.