My campaign is about getting pets to be more active, and

Misty May-Treanor, a champion not only of sport but of life’s simplest joys, once said: “My campaign is about getting pets to be more active, and exercise with your animal is a great way for people to exercise. When you’re out with your pet, it becomes fun. You don’t think of it as a chore. For me, taking my dog out for a walk is very relaxing.” What appears as a humble reflection upon walking a dog is in truth a philosophy of harmony between man and beast, between body and spirit, between labor and joy.

The essence of her words lies in the transformation of exercise. Alone, it may seem burdensome, a duty placed upon the flesh to keep it strong and unbroken. But when joined with a pet, it ceases to feel like labor and becomes instead a shared adventure. The animal, with its boundless enthusiasm, draws the human out of weariness and into the rhythm of play. Thus, what might have been a chore becomes fun, what might have been a strain becomes relaxation. The lesson here is that companionship reshapes effort, making toil light and duty joyful.

The ancients, too, knew this truth. The Greeks praised not only the contests of men in their Olympic games but also the harmony between hunters and their hounds, shepherds and their flocks. In the fields, men walked not alone but side by side with their beasts, their movements in sync, their spirits entwined. To them, labor shared with an animal was not degradation but nobility, a testament that nature had given companions to man not merely for use but for delight.

History gives us rich examples of this unity. In Japan, the samurai not only trained their bodies with sword and bow but also practiced with horses, seeing the animal not as a tool but as a partner in discipline and grace. In medieval Europe, falconers walked the fields with their birds of prey, their hearts attuned to the rhythm of wings. And in simpler homes across the centuries, families have taken walks with their dogs, finding in these quiet journeys moments of peace, reflection, and renewal. What Misty May-Treanor experienced in the simple act of walking her dog is thus part of a tradition as old as civilization itself.

But her words also strike against the modern plague of disconnection. Many see exercise as drudgery, as something to dread, and many live cut off from nature, from their bodies, and even from their companions. To reclaim exercise as joy, to make it not a solitary trial but a shared experience with a pet, is to restore balance. It is to remember that movement was never meant to be punishment, but a celebration of life, breath, and bond.

The meaning of her campaign is therefore profound. It is not only about health, nor only about animals—it is about rediscovering joy in what is necessary. For when you walk with your dog, you are reminded that duty and happiness can walk hand in hand. The wag of a tail transforms obligation into laughter; the rhythm of footsteps shared becomes a meditation. This is no small lesson—it is wisdom for how to live all of life.

The teaching is clear: seek companionship in your labors, and your labors will become light. Make exercise not a burden, but a ritual of connection—with your pet, with your loved ones, with your own spirit. Do not think of walking, running, or playing as tasks to check off, but as sacred times where joy and discipline become one.

Practical action flows naturally. Take your dog for a walk, not with a sigh but with gratitude. If you have no pet, walk with a friend, a child, or even alone but in the presence of trees, sky, and air, which are themselves companions. Reframe your duties so that they are not battles, but dances. In this way, life itself becomes less a grind and more a harmony, where health and happiness are not separate, but united.

Thus Misty May-Treanor’s gentle words, born from a simple walk with her dog, rise into timeless wisdom: When duty is shared, it becomes joy; when exercise is joined with love, it becomes play; when the pet and the human walk together, both body and soul are healed.