Appetite: A Measure of Temperment?

My temperament is stirring the oatmeal here.  This incomplete theory has been brewing in my mind for as long as I can remember.  Critters with a good appetite are jollier.  Chubby people are more cheerful than skinny ones.  Call it the Santa effect, if you like. 

I've revisited these childhood musings lately, in large part because of my dog Rose.  Why?  Because Rose has lost her appetite (she suffers from vestibular disease.  See:  It's Idiopathic, November 21st post) yet she is still jolly.  She is a happy scrawny gal.  So I am forced to rethink some things.

There is still some meat to the theory.  It is the definitions that need modifying.  The jolliness, the tendency toward bright expectation, is not a matter of body size, but of appetite. What appetite really means, is the matter to be better understood. 

Because, just perhaps, appetite is about more than food.  Appetite includes the affinity toward optimism and joy.  It is the stuff of faith.  Of gratitude. Of savoring the gifts we have and those to come.  One with a good appetite is one who embraces life and all that life hands you.  Even if you are a little dog who suddenly inexplicably feels dizzy, you know that life is good.

At this festive time of year, let us increase our appetite for gratitude.  And let us remember this is the season of giving.  And sharing. 

Merry Christmas!

special thanks to Rose- for yet another life lesson