The Wuff with the Smooth: Confucious says…

If you’re the smartest person in the room, then you’re in the wrong room.”

Initially I liked this quote when I read it recently. It’s attributed – rightly or wrongly – to that great Chinese philosopher, Kong Qui, AKA, Confucius.

I like it for several reasons: That it’s always important to seek the wisdom of others; that it’s important to realise how we present ourselves in a group and most of all, if anyone considers his or herself to be the smartest person in any room, their ego might need some downsizing.

Waffle, for example, knows he’s not the sharpest suit in the wardrobe but in that respect, he is content with his lot.

He also knows, though, that no matter the room he is residing in at any given moment, he is entirely at ease. He is safe with the people he loves and he knows in his heart his contentment will continue until the end of his days.

This, fortunately enough, ties in with another of Confucius’s most treasured maxims: “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.”

That statement is a bit too comprehensive to pick apart although he might have been more accurate if he had said, “Life is really simple, but other people insist on making it complicated.” I suppose, like Waffle, he appreciated the other people in the room and didn’t want to belittle them in any way.

As has come to be something of a tradition at this time of year, I am reflecting on the past 12 months of writing about Waffle and Waffle-related shenanigans. As reflected by many others at this turning of the year, he and I will reassess our relationship vis-à-vis one another and our respective places in the world.

Confucius said, “Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes.”

Waffle would certainly buy into this, as there has been a multitude of mistakes since he first graced our door. But were they crimes? Not anymore. After all, as the great man would also say, “A superior man is modest in his speech but exceeds in his actions.”

That means Waffle can exceed in his actions by not peeing in the back hall and we‘ll all think he’s a great fella altogether.

In the coming weeks – if God spares us – I’ll be writing the 160th Waffle instalment – three whole years of adventures and misadventures and green bile and Lucozade-coloured pee and all the rest of it. It has been quite the experience.

Moreover, Waffle turned five on New Year’s Day and that means he is now bordering on – in doggie terms at least – middle age. Surely that will mean more sense and fewer mistakes – from both of us.

“The more man meditates upon good thoughts the better will be his world and the world at large.”

Who do you think made this sage assertion? That’s right, Kong Qui. And I think that sums up Waffle’s current state of mind as well as his hopes for the year ahead.

“But Waffle doesn’t have any hopes for the year ahead,” I hear you say.

And what do you know, but Confucius had something to say about that as well.

“Humankind differs from the animals only by a little and most people throw that away.”

Think about it.

PS: Happy New Year!