Lucky For Me - More Reviews!

I'm excited to report that my book, Lucky For Me - A Journey of Healing and Self-discovery, has had the great fortune of receiving some more wonderful reviews!!  

I personally like to read reviews before I make any kind of purchase - whether it's a product or a service. Hearing what other people's experience has been (not just what the author, service provider or product manufacturer says), gives me much more insight into whether or not something is a fit for ME. In case any of you are like me, I decided it might be helpful to share the recent reviews here.  :-)  

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Maureen Burkley has written a book that any dog lover will find engaging, instructive, and transformational. Her experiences gained from adopting an abused and traumatized puppy greatly illuminate the canine/human relationship. And in doing so, illustrates the profound connection and exchange of learning what is possible between a person and any living creature. 

Maureen’s journey with her German Shepherd, Lucky shows how approaching a challenging task with self-awareness and openness leads to profound discovery and healing growth. The story presents a lesson in compassion while revealing insights and training methods that made me a more loving and responsible dog parent and gave me clues about my own mental-emotional patterns. As a specialist in Emotional Intelligence, I found the book to be a consistent primer threaded with behavioral practices and keys to personal awareness that span the spectrum of relationships. Curiosity, openness, and compassion open us to deeper connections and reveal new paths. And it’s just a great dog story!

 

Steve Whiteford – Applied Emotional Intelligence Consultant 

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It has been a long time since I resonated with and was moved by a book. “Lucky For Me” resonated with me and I was definitely moved by it. As a longtime dog lover and parent, I truly believe that dogs have souls. It is truly a gift to have a special emotional connection with an animal. They save us and we save them. Thank you for saving Lucky and I am glad she was able to help save you as well.

K.C.

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And for those of you who may have missed previous reviews, here are a couple more: 

Like the boy on an expedition who seeks wisdom by attending to omens in The Alchemist, author Maureen Burkley listens intently to signs she receives from Lucky, her adopted German Shepherd. What she learns couldn’t help but propel her on a quest for personal healing and self-discovery. 

Searching to understand the root causes of Lucky’s illnesses, Maureen gingerly and lovingly assists her companion in overcoming deep-seated traumas. Through the unraveling of Lucky’s knotted wounds, Maureen shows us how we can be alchemists of our own pain and transform whatever shackles us from being our best selves. 

Lucky For Me is an intimate portrait of two friends who discover when one of us evolves, everything around us evolves. The hard-earned lessons Maureen imparts throughout her story are poignant and timely, told with extraordinary honesty and regard for the reader. This is not only a must-read for animal lovers, but for anyone who could use a reminder of the preciousness of every life.

Paula Francis – author of 18 Pair Of Shoes

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Maureen's book is so inspiring and very interesting to read. She showed so much strength and perseverance during her special journey with Lucky. There is so much of her heart and determination to help Lucky with her challenges. You truly see the power of unconditional love.  The connections Maureen made to guide her were almost unbelievable or magical since many came in strange ways and at just the right time.  

So many stories in the book that I could relate to or felt the same way at times. While reading her book it triggered many of my own memories. My favorite stories were her many fun times with Lucky. Although Lucky had some struggles she never gave up either and actually help to guide Maureen on her path. Lucky brought so much joy to so many people of all ages.  They were such gifts to each other and also to so many people, myself included.

Maureen's book taught me several things that could help me in my life as well. 

L.B.

Why Not Do It Now?

When my mother passed away, I did the eulogy and of course had to share some of the many funny memories about her. One of the big standouts was how she save things for "special occasions" instead of using them and enjoying them in the present. 

This topic had come up many years earlier when she was very ill and in the hospital for weeks, while the doctors tried to figure out what was going on with her body. It was a scary time for all of us because we knew there was a chance that she wouldn't pull through. My brother flew into town - it was really serious. 

Fortunately, my mom eventually DID pull through so on the day she was finally being released from the hospital, I put together a "coming home bag" with comfortable but clean clothing for her to wear home. I assumed she would be happy that I took the time to do that for her. Instead I got chastised for bringing her "good underwear" as apparently, she was saving it.  LOL  

We teased her endlessly about it because her definition of "good underwear" was a little surprising to all of us. It was a pair of Jockey cotton briefs, just like all the other ones. The exception was that this particular pair had pretty fall colored leaves on them (my mom loved fall leaves) instead of being a solid color like the rest of them. Regardless of the pretty leaves, we couldn't stop teasing her about what could qualify as a "special occasion" if recovering and being able to leave the hospital wasn't special enough. 

That weekend, we had a celebratory feast to honor her and her return home. Us kids did all the cooking so that my mom could just rest (which proved to be quite difficult for her  - we had to keep shooing her out of the kitchen) haha  My brother set a beautiful table with colorful linens, china plates and crystal glasses to make it match the celebratory feeling we all had that she had made it out of the hospital. Much to our surprise, when we brought mom into the dining room, the first thing she did was chastise my brother for using the "good linens" which you can probably guess by now . . . linens she was saving for a special occasion. :-) The teasing resumed as we couldn't believe she still didn't deem surviving what she had just been through as special enough to warrant the use of her best linens. 

It was something that stuck with all of us and we all vowed to enjoy things NOW and not save them for another day or a special occasion. I thought I had embraced this pretty well but last night I caught myself in a similar situation. 

While putting things into the linen closet, my hand brushed against the softest towel in the pile. I stopped for a moment, questioning how I could have a towel in there that was THAT soft and luxurious feeling. And then I started to giggle. It was the "guest towel" . . .  something else that I inadvertently learned from my mother. She had a special set of bath towels, hand towels and wash rags that we only pulled out when guests were coming. Until that moment, I didn't realize I had done the same thing. What made it even funnier to me is that I rarely have guests stay over night and when I do, it's usually a friend who stays the night but heads home after breakfast - without wanting or needing to take a shower.

At that moment, I decided that *I* was worthy of enjoying the guest towel and vowed to use it as long as I wanted to (or until it was like all the other towels in the linen closet - less fluffy and less soft). What a treat it was to get out of the shower last night and dry off with such a lovely feeling towel! 

Pondering this last night, I wondered how many other ways I had slipped into that mindset of saving something for a special occasion or a special guest. I truly believe that it is important for us to treat ourselves as well as we treat others, to not put off to tomorrow what we could be enjoying today. Making a recommitment to myself - I thanked my mom for helping me remember and I
am watching myself closely to make sure that I am savoring each day and enjoying all that I have.

Have any of you slipped into this mindset? If so, would you consider giving yourself permission to break free from it?  We are only here for so long . . . I think we all deserve to enjoy each and every moment of it. 

Lucky For Me - A Journey of Healing and Self-Discovery

It's hard to believe that it has almost been a year since my book, Lucky For Me, was published. Time certainly does seem to be flying by this year. Feedback so far has been wonderful (and a few folks have been kind enough to let me know where a typo snuck through so I can get those all fixed in the near future). :-) It has been so fun for me to hear all the different ways that people have connected with different parts of our story or insights we gained throughout our journey.

In the prologue, I mention that part of the reason that I felt so compelled to share our story was because I felt deep inside my heart that it would somehow be of assistance to others. 

I wrote: I know I am not the only person who has had an intense bond with their animal, nor am I the only one who has gone to extremes to help an animal recover from the abuse they suffered or heal their own trauma. My intention in sharing our journey is to light the path for those who find themselves with similar challenges. Whether you are someone who is extremely sensitive and feels things very deeply or you are trying to heal the past or you are in the process of self-discovery, my hope is that you'll experience some "aha" moments and points of connection through this book that can assist you on your own journey, and maybe even inspire you to find your way to a deeper understanding and appreciation of all you have to offer too. 

It is truly gratifying when I receive feedback that lets me know that the book has done what I hoped it would for some people . . . giving them their own AHA moments, seeing things in themselves and/or their relationship with their pets that they hadn't noticed before and in some cases even helping them unravel pieces of their childhood that have had more of an impact on them than they realized. 

While I trust that the book will end up in the hands of people who it can serve, I also know that it is ok to ask for support.  :-)  

The odds of me reading a book often increase dramatically if someone personally recommends it to me, especially when the person knows me well enough to know that it will speak to me and to my heart. So I welcome those of you who have read my book to recommend it to others if you feel it can be of assistance. Whether it is an animal lover / someone who has a strong bond with their pet, or a very sensitive soul, or a person trying to untangle who they are from who they thought they were "supposed" to be or someone who is on their own healing path. There are so many little nuggets in the book that others can relate to and it would make my heart happy if I knew that our story was helping even more people along their own paths. 

Maybe it would make a great holiday gift? It could possibly provide encouragement to someone you know who is struggling right now. So if you feel inspired to recommend my book to others or purchase it as a gift, I would be extremely grateful! 

Link to purchase the book: Lucky For Me - A Journey of Healing and Self-discovery

Endless gratitude for your support!