For a long time in my human perception, I viewed my near-13-year-old Gordon Setter “Maggie” as having good days and bad days. Some days she is full of energy, particularly during hunting season when her age seems to fall away and she becomes vital, focused, and even somewhat obsessed in the pursuit of what she was bred for, lives for, and loves. Other days she sleeps until midday and then wakes up only to shuffle along at my side to the mailbox. Then she will go back to sleep on the couch and soon run in her sleep, no doubt dreaming of her halcyon days when she reigned supreme in her pursuits.

But here’s the thing: From her perspective, apparently they are all good days. It’s only through my human eyes that I have voiced the opinion, “Maggie seems to be having a bad day.” Even when shuffling along beside me to the mailbox, she is happily wagging her tail.

There is a lesson here.

Many years ago, one of my great Field Trial Labrador Retrievers lay dying at 15 years old. Her face and paws were white, she was completely deaf and nearly blind, and she could no longer stand. The memories she and I shared together were nothing short of electrifying and legendary. With tears running down my face, I cradled her head in my lap and rubbed her ears as she was drawing her last rattling breaths. She was wagging her tail the entire time. Thump, thump, thump… It was as if she was saying, “Thank you. I’ve enjoyed being here. I’ve enjoyed being here with you and these have been good days.” With the last thump of the tail she was gone, content to her last breath.

There is also a lesson here. It took me a while to learn it, but here it is: There are only days, and those days are what we choose to make of them.

We have all heard the phrase, “This too shall pass.”

And another lesson here as well.

The important thing is to be in the present and enjoy the gift of life to the fullest. Wag your tail. If things aren’t going your way, remember — it will pass. Be kind and understanding to those who have yet to come to this realization. It takes time and experience for the young. Tragically, for some — even the old — the realization will come late or not at all.

I can’t tell you how many cheesy T-shirts and coffee mugs I have seen with phrases like “A bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work” or “Work is for people who don’t know how to fish.” Or insert your own last word of choice into that sentence — golf, motorcycling, tennis, whatever.

All of these slogans fall short.

Some of my most memorable and enjoyable days have been work days, every bit the equal of my most memorable days hunting, fishing, riding horses or motorcycles, or any other pursuits I find entertaining. The fact is, I loved my work life and the relationships formed through it.

Attitude and approach matter.

I haven’t been a “limit guy” for years now. Whether hunting or fishing, the true joy comes from just being there, not from a heavy game bag or creel. The enjoyment of being there with my dogs coupled with patience always pays off. The same held true in my sales career. Rather than focus on numbers, I focused on relationships. While a consternation to some of my superiors, just like Novocain, give that approach a little time and patience and it always works. Ultimately for me, the relationships were the real payday.

My exuberant eight-month-old Gordon Setter puppy just knocked my coffee off the arm of my chair trying to jump into my lap while I was writing this. From her perspective, as I sat here more or less motionless and lost in thought, she, of the boundless perpetual energy of youth, probably thought I was having a bad day and decided to cheer me up.

I can’t be mad at her for this, as she is the very definition of what I am attempting to convey in a few hundred words. So now, proverbial writer’s pen set aside, she is in my lap copiously licking my face and wagging her tail. To say she is royally bred and bred to hunt and quite talented is a simple truth, yet here in the present she is perfectly content to just be in my lap. It is a good day.

As I am writing this, it is 24 degrees below zero outside. This too shall pass, and soon, Lord willing, we will frolic in the green grass of spring, swim in the warm waters of summer, and hunt the harvested crop fields of fall, although Maggie and I will be frolicking a bit slower than the puppy.

But we all will be wagging our tails because these are good days.