The author, Barbara Woodhouse, does have some valid points. I learnt that a dog jumping up can simply be trying to show affection.
Self-Help Seeking
After having quickly browsed through the book, I put the book on my bookshelf for a later time. Having seen the book sitting there, I began to think. In life, there are numerous "self-help" types of books. People are constantly seeking wisdom and knowledge on various topics through books. It's not just self-help books that people are leaning towards.
If people become interested in a topic, they seek out information to gain an understanding about said topic. On an educational level, as children we go to school. Upon graduation, most people tend to gain a higher level of education. We are seekers of wisdom.
A Life Long Educational Journey
The Bible even teaches that wisdom is important in our lives. Proverbs 4 verse 7 says, "The beginning of wisdom is this: get wisdom. Though it costs all you have, get understanding." As imperfect people, we constantly crave learning to better improve ourselves. Our lives are a never ending learning process.
Can you imagine a world if people were perfect, and didn't need to learn anything? I can't imagine what it would be like to live in that kind of world. Sir Francis Bacon said "knowledge is power." I can see the truth behind that. The more knowledgeable you are in a subject, the more powerful you become. For example, the more you know about politics, the better equipped you become to be a politician.
A Life Long Journey
As the popular saying goes, "you can't teach an old dog new tricks." However, we can endeavour to gain wisdom and knowledge to help broaden our horizon. We can even grow in wisdom through our life experiences.
There will be times in our lives where we accomplish what we set out to do. Then, there are the times where we may make mistakes, and fail to complete tasks. All of these experiences help us to grow.
We also shouldn't be focused on our age to determine if we are capable of learning. We can learn and gain wisdom and knowledge throughout our whole life. This is as certain as death and taxes.
Natalie Van Egmond from Brisbane is a journalism graduate.
Natalie Van Egmond's archive of articles may be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/natalie-van-egmond.html