Gracie Lou has a problem. Actually, she has several, but the one currently running her life is Atopic Dermatitis.
She's been to the vet. She's on medication. Her underbelly is healing nicely. We're making progress.
Her face, however, has apparently declared independence from the healing process.
The skin under her chin and along her cheek is still rubbed raw because the moment she gets an opportunity, she's right back at it. Lick the paws. Rub the face. Scratch the itch. Repeat.
It's a terrible strategy, really. The more she scratches, the worse the irritation becomes, which makes her want to scratch even more.
And watching her do this got me thinking about how remarkably human the whole situation is.
We do this, too.
Sometimes we're so desperate to make something uncomfortable go away that we'll keep doing the very thing making it worse.
We pick at a problem. Revisit an argument. Replay a conversation. Worry about something until we've worried ourselves into an entirely new problem.
We're so busy trying to get relief that we fail to notice we're creating more damage in the process.
Gracie Lou, at least, has the excuse of being a dog.
I'm not sure what ours is.
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Explore Ashs Writing Courses
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