No More Chances

For those of you who read my blog regularly, you know that Lucky told me before she passed that she would come back to me in a few years.  When I asked how I would find her, I was told to look for a german shepherd named Chance.  Ever since then, that has been my "mission" - to find a german shepherd named Chance.

Last spring I found one and was over the moon when the guy who ran the rescue group decided I would be the perfect adopter . . . and then Chance's foster mom decided she wanted to keep him herself and well, I felt pretty "under the moon" after that.

Once I got over that disappointment, I got back on my quest and have spent the last 9-10 months continuing to look for Chance. I often wondered if I should give up and just get any German shepherd because I miss having one so much, but ultimately I decided to keep having faith and trust that it would all work out.

Two weeks ago, I found another German shepherd named Chance and it looked like it was all coming together.  As I prepared the house and yard for my new roommate, I was beyond excited thinking about how wonderful it was going to be to finally be with "Lucky Chance" (as my friend's call him) again. I didn't imagine it could fall through again . . . and yet, it did.  It felt like the ultimate smack down.

I have always believed that if the same thing happens to us again, it is because we didn't learn the lesson that was there for us the first time.  I have spent much of the last week pondering this, trying to open my mind and my heart to whatever lesson I may have missed.  I don't have any answers yet.

What I have decided is that it is time to abandon my "quest" - the information I received may have been very true and accurate at the time I got it, but a lot of time has passed since then and maybe things have changed.  Sometimes "staying the course" isn't the best approach . . . and in this case, I think it's time to change the course.  I know that once I grieve the loss of the dream, I will be able to open my heart to another German shepherd, by whatever name he or she comes with.  I'm not there yet, but maybe some day soon.

Animals Read Energy

Recently after a nice long walk on the beach, I sat down in the sand to soak up some sun and enjoy watching some surfers.  I was enjoying the peacefulness of it all when out of the corner of my eye, I saw a dog running towards me at a pretty fast pace.  When he got to me, he skidded to a stop and then proceeded to kiss my entire face as he wiggled and wagged all around me.  When his guardians finally caught up to him, they said, "You know, he can spot a dog lover from a mile away." We all laughed and then they continued on their way.   Not more than ten or fifteen minutes later, again I saw a dog running full steam ahead in my direction and when she got to me, I got yet another face cleaning.  The even funnier part was that when her guardians finally caught up to her, they said, "Rosie can spot a dog lover from a mile away."

I sat there thinking about how cool it was that these dogs could sense from such a far distance that I would be totally ok with the exuberant greeting I received . . . and I smiled as I thought of countless examples where dogs read the energy of the people around them and even cooler was that, through their behavior, they tried to communicate what they were sensing.

Many years ago, I had a client who ran a business out of her home.  One day, her dog Leon growled at the man she was meeting with, which was totally out of character for Leon.  She put him in his crate to make sure everyone stayed safe, but Leon continued to bark and growl the entire time the man was there.  After completing a large design project for the man, he skipped town and never paid her a penny.  She realized that Leon probably sensed something in the man's character and was trying to let her know.  From that day forward, she always paid attention to how Leon responded when they were meeting a new client and she never regretted it.

I had another client whose dog, who normally loved everyone, began exhibiting new and concerning behaviors when she started dating someone new.  Her dog, Ginger, would attack this guy's feet, whether he was walking in the door or just sitting on the couch.  Ginger also started ripping up whatever paper she could get her mouth on when he was there.  At first, my client thought Ginger was just jealous but soon she discovered that this new guy wasn't who he had presented himself to be and was actually quite deceitful.  Clearly, Ginger was sensing something in his energy.  The next guy my client dated ended up being a really nice guy who never received anything but love from Ginger.

Have your animals ever reacted oddly to a person they just met?  Either positive or negatively?  Whenever animals exhibit behavior that is out of character for them, I believe we should pay attention to what they might be trying to tell us.  After all, they are much more skilled than most of when it comes to reading energy.

Be Kind To Yourself

Last week, a gentleman scheduled a session with me for he and his dog, because he was very concerned about his dog's health issues.  When the appointment started though, his dog was goofing around, running around the room, trying to get one of us to play with her.  She didn't seem interested in the appointment at all and appeared to just want to have a little fun.  I could sense that her guardian was the one who needed some support and sure enough, a few minutes later he stopped and said, "Well, it looks like I'm the one who really needed the appointment, is it OK if we focus on me?"  I was really pleased that he was willing to look out for himself and his own needs and we spent the rest of the session helping him find some balance.

It's something that I see so often . . . guardians who will do anything for their animals (whether it's helping them get rest, or exercise, or better food, or medical assistance - eastern or western) and yet won't often do those same things for themselves.  They would do anything to ensure that their pet was healthy and happy and felt safe and yet they won't give themselves that same care and concern.  (Note: I see this play out with parents and their 2-legged children as well)

So, why is that? Why are we willing to take better care of our pets than ourselves?  Is it because we don't believe we deserve it?  Do we think their health and well-being is more important than ours?  Do we think our job is to take care of them? but not to take care of ourselves?  Do we feel it's selfish to take care of ourselves?

I believe we ALL deserve to be healthy, happy and to feel safe and well cared for - us and our "children."  I also believe that being kind to ourselves opens the door for us to more easily be kind to others.  When we "fill our cup" so to speak, we have more to give.

So my questions to you this week are:  Where are you doing more for your "child" than you are doing for yourself?  What can you do to bring things into balance?  Where do YOU need to be kinder to yourself?  I don't think you will regret showing yourself a little kindness.  :-)

Weather Patterns

I'm reading John Edward's book, Infinite Quest, right now and even though most of what he writes about isn't new information for me, he has a way of putting things that make concepts even more clear than they had been before.

An example of this is how many people, including myself, talk about how our thoughts become things and how important it is to pay attention to our thoughts because that is how we manifest what comes into our lives.  John, however, refers to our thoughts as "bullets of energy" that we are spraying out in front of us.  Now THAT brings a whole new level of clarity to the concept.  Just the other day, I caught myself spraying some pretty negative bullets and remembering his way of explaining it, I was able to stop the thoughts more quickly than I ever had before and replace them something more pleasant.  :-)

In his book, he talks about how we create situations, opportunities and lessons that enable us to discover and evolve in our soul's progression.  I loved the way we wrote about it because the focus was not on beating ourselves up for what we have created in our lives.  Instead he suggested we focus on what we intended or hoped to learn from the things we created - a gentle way to take a step back and say, "Hmm, I wonder why I created this?"

In the book, he also talks about the importance of understanding the "weather patterns" we create in our lives and suggests that we try to describe our changing attitudes in weather terms and see what it shows us.  Are we "partly sunny" or always "stormy"?   How do our "weather patterns" change in different environments (work, home, in your car) or around different people.

All that thought about weather patterns got me thinking about radio stations (I can't explain why, it's just how my mind works)  :-)  When I was driving over the hill to the beach this week, the radio stations I normally listen to began to have a lot of static as I got farther into the mountains . . . and I began to think about how analogous that is to how I feel around people . . . with some people, I feel like my "signal" is strong and my "song" comes through clearly . . . and with some people, I can feel my signal waning and my "song" starts to sound muddled.  And I thought to myself, "Hmm, I wonder why my "signal" wanes in certain situations?"

If you take a look at your life, your current experiences, "weather patterns" and "radio static," do you know why you may have created it? Do you know what you were hoping to learn?  Taking some time to consider the answers to those questions may give you some pretty interesting insights.

Reasons to Smile

When I was a little girl, my two most favorite things in the whole world were daffodils and German shepherds.  Every year since Lucky made her transition, I have had at least one daffodil make an early appearance between Christmas and New Years, and this year was no different.  A couple days before the new year, this daffodil popped up.  Given that the rest of my daffodils bloom in March, I consider it a little gift from Lucky each year.  The daffodil that makes an early appearance is usually in one of the pots closest to the backdoor, so every time I look outside I see it . . . and I can't help smiling and feeling a bit "lucky."

Speaking of reasons to smile, one of my best friends sent me this video clip of dog and a little child that warmed my heart. It is so precious I just have to share it.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  Best Friends

And lastly, I have two very special clients named Buster and Mia.  I have written about them in past blogs, when their mom Jewel and their dad Guy made their transitions, and a few summers ago when Reiki treatments helped a tumor in Guy's abdomen go away, when the doctors were sure he needed surgery to remove it.  If you saw them, you'd be convinced they were puppies because they are so goofy and full of life.  They have big personalities that would make you smile even on the gloomiest day.  Last night, their mom sent me a photo of them, with a note that said, "Buster and Mia wanted you to see how nice they look in their new black/grey collars."  They were so excited about their new "clothes" I thought they'd appreciate it if I shared the picture with all of you.

They say that the energy right now is stronger than ever for manifesting our thoughts, so I figure why not focus our thoughts on the good stuff in life.  I hope you are finding plenty of reasons to smile as well, and that in turn, the Universe gives you even more to smile about!

Happy New Year!!

Joan Morris writes a column in the San Jose Mercury called Animal Life.  I enjoy reading it each week and I have learned a lot from the answers she gives the folks who write to her.

Today, she published her new years resolutions and they really struck a chord with me.  I may just have to copy her and make them my resolutions as well.  Definitely more fun than resolutions to lose weight! Here they are:

- I resolve to think more about how my actions affects wildlife.
- I resolve to help shelter pets find loving homes.
- I resolve to spread the word that all living things have value and should be respected.
- I resolve to never miss an opportunity to watch wildlife at work and play
- I resolve to keep learning from pets and animals, and humans too.

And on a humorous note - who says old dogs can't learn new tricks?  I had a pleasant surprise this week involving my dad.  He is rather old school and doesn't believe that animals think, let alone have the ability to communicate with people.  It used to be a bit of a challenge for me since I believe so strongly that two way communication with animals is quite possible.  Over time, I accepted that it was OK if he didn't believe in what I did and stopped letting it bother me.  :-)

So, the other day, my dad had plans that were going to keep him away from the house all day and he was worried about "the boys" being alone for over twelve hours.  He asked me if I could come over midday to get them out for some exercise and I said I would.

Much to my surprise, I got an email back from him saying, "I told the boys that you were coming over to see them and they got very excited." Did my dad really tell them?  And when they acted excited, did he realize they actually DID understand him?  I smiled to myself when I thought about the fact that maybe my dad was adjusting his beliefs a bit.

Happy New Year!  I hope 2013 is a blessed year for all of you.  May it be a year filled with peace, joy, love and laughter!

Gratitude

Along the lines of the principle that what you focus on expands, it is said that the more you focus on what you are grateful for, the more reasons you'll have to be grateful.  So, as the holiday season approaches, I thought I'd share a few things that I have gratitude for:

- For the dentist who understands that animals are capable of far more than most people give them credit for, and allows his dog to assist his young patients.  amazingdentist/dog

- For the wonderful friends I have, that make sure I see links like the one above.

- For the fact that my Christmas tree finally stopped falling over  :-)

- For the people who have noticed I had my blinker on and actually let me move into their lane.

- For the homemade toffee that was lovingly made by the sister of one of my best friends, even if it means exercise is going to have to be moved up to the top of my to-do list.  :-)

- For my friendship with Chelsea, which appears to have given me the added benefit of having the rest of the squirrel population stay out of my flower pots this fall.  I don't know what she said to them, but they all seem to be "respecting" my daffodil bulbs this year.

- For the fact that Barry Manilow is still performing, so that my family could go see him and feel close to my mom for the night, as he sang the songs that were a soundtrack to our childhood.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season.  My wish for all of you is that you are surrounded by those you love and that you are given many opportunities to feel grateful.

Happy Holidays!!!