Imagine a to do list.

Think of all the things, which you need to accomplish. Reflect a little longer and consider some good things you have done recently. Perhaps today or this week was one of purpose. Maybe things went well or maybe not so well. I am willing to bet for most people it was a grab bag of some things being good and some things being bad. The trick is to keep your focus aimed in a way, which will bring you closer to what you want out of life.

Pretend for a moment you are a soldier. The uniform is on. The helmet is rattling on your head. Gunfire is raging and a bayonet is affixed to your rifle.

The order is going to come to charge an enemy, you don’t know. There is horror around you and within you. A deep seated desire not to die, but a courage fills you as well because you are unwilling to let those you fight with down.

Let’s take a different mental trip now.The sun is out in a sky of vibrant blue. The smell of freshly cut grass hangs in the air. There is a bat in your hands and right now you are the greatest slugger ever with a swing Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron could only dream of.

A ball is coming across the plate hot, but it is just being served up to you because you are going to send it sailing right over that wall and the crowd will cheer.

Let’s take a fanciful turn.There’s a little boy in front of you. He looks different than other little boys or girls. His face a little rounder and his gaze a little vacant as if seeing another world.  When he does connect it is precious because there is a sweetness to him that registers in you. Only you aren’t a person any more. You’re a dog with a light golden coat and a need to connect with this boy. You paw at him gently. You roll over for him and he looks the other way. You nuzzle at him with your warm doggy nose, but he just drifts farther. You get closer and he pulls away. Until finally something slips through and it seems like he gives you a hug.

The little vignette above actually happened if you use your favorite search engine and input “dog named Himalaya with little boy” then you can see this heart-warming scene play out for yourself.

A man died on Sept. 25. A man named Jonathan Denver. He was a Dodgers fan and he was fatally stabbed a few blocks away from AT&T Park. He was killed by someone who is believed to be a Giant’s fan.

It is a sickening reminiscent of what happened to Bryan Stow in 2011.

Stow, a paramedic, was beaten outside of the Dodger Stadium for no other reason than he cheered for the Giants. Stow lived, but suffered brain injuries that will be with him and all who love him for the rest of their lives.

Why pretend you are a soldier?

The soldier because on Oct. 1 a group of World War II veterans went through the trappings of a failed bureaucracy to pay their respects to the fallen. They or people like them know people who died on the beach at Omaha, in Pearl Harbor or Iwo Jima. In this war there is other dark chapters like the nuclear bombing of Nagasaki and the firebombing of Dresden.

To die or kill or be injured for the rest of your life because of what team you cheer for is a kind of madness for which there is no word.

Why imagine you are a dog? Himalaya is clued into what life should be about. The sweet dog is more sane, kind, patient and clued into what life should be about than what I often wonder.

Life should be about lifting someone else up and taking the time to enjoy a moment.  It should be about finding a connection and knowing a sense of grace.