As we close out yet another year, we often look back to reflect on what has transpired – the good, the bad and the ugly. Unfortunately, we all too often focus on the bad and the ugly cancelling out all the good in our minds and attitudes. For the sake of our animals, let’s, together, begin to flip this to focusing primarily on the good. I read a quote recently that stated, “If you stumble, make it part of the dance,” by HealthPlace.com – as another more known quote states, “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.”
Why do we focus on the stumble as if it defines us? Maybe it’s human nature, or maybe we’ve come to believe we need to be on someone else’s Chapter Twenty instead of our own Chapter One. Maybe it’s because we really do want to see our animals truly healthy but instead we focus on the disease/illness as well as our own perceived shortcomings in the midst of the trial, so that is all we see.
I’d like to invite you to consider all of the following as you traverse this less traveled road of lifestyle wellness. As a society we’ve come to believe that health is simply recovering from disease. We want to help those who are struggling with the whole health mindset to shift your perspective just enough to really see truth that is always usually smack dab in the middle of the lies. It is the forest in the midst of the trees.
1. Healing can be messy. It is never perfect through the transition – but it is a progressive transition when we allow it to take its proper course.
2. We each have our own journey with our own animals – and that ought always involve trusting the process.
3. What we focus on is what we’ll experience. As Stan Harris said, “What you’re afraid of you’ll attract to you.” So we either choose to focus in fear on the dis-ease or focus in truth on health.
4. Fact and truth isn’t always the same thing. The fact can be that your pet was diagnosed with a serious dis-ease (label) but the truth is that does not need to define them. When you partner with the lie, the lie is what you’ll receive.
There are more but the above are what I see over and over again. People are “afraid” after the diagnosis. They focus on the diagnosis of a symptom (dis-ease means the body is out of balance, out of ease through the presentation of symptoms). The focus becomes FIGHTING that dis-ease rather than working with nature to remove the cause of the discomfort/dis-ease while supporting your animal back to ease.
Rather than continue in this esoteric fashion, let me state it more plainly, STOP IT! The focus needs to be on health if that is what you desire to see in your companion animals. There seems to be an addiction to problems because that garners us the most attention but IF our desire truly is to have healthy companion animals, then we must shift our focus to health and wellness. Speak the language of wellness. Hear the language and words of wellness and health over sickness. See wellness rather than sickness.
This isn’t a silly “fake it until it happens” idea. It is speaking, hearing and seeing health and life rather than speaking, hearing and seeing sickness and death. It is trusting the process – and there IS a process; a journey. Healing isn’t microwave or magic. However, even in chronic illness we can see rapid recovery when we shift from fear, sadness, anxiety, etc., to only see them as they ought to be not as they currently are.
Additionally we also need to let go of the outcome. We are not saying to disconnect from feelings and emotions, but to shift them to a positive focus for the sake of our animals as well as ourselves. The worst that can happen? Death. We’ve all had to face that too. None of us wants that of course, but ultimately that will happen for every person and animal on the planet eventually. However, don’t we all desire quality along with quantity?
The point we want to drive home is to not allow the fear to reign any longer. If you truly want this lifestyle for your animals, then the above will be necessary to embrace. You will learn and be empowered along the path of this journey.
For us, it has and continues to be worth it. Know that we know that we know. Trust, the eighth law of health. To make the stumbles a part of this dance we call life and embrace it!
Until next time….
Have a pawsitively tail waggin’, NATUROPATHICALLY healthy day!
Kim Bloomer, V.N.D., N.D. is an animal naturopath as well as being certified in small animal nutrition, with years of experience in animal wellness. Dr. Kim is a published author, writer, blogger, host of the DOGgone Truth podcast. Copyright 2018 Aspenbloom Pet Care, Dr. Kim Bloomer, All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced in any form without the written consent of the Author/Publisher. This article is intended to be educational. However, it is not intended to be a substitute for diagnosis or treatment from a qualified animal health professional. Dr. Kim Bloomer and Aspenbloom Pet Care, do not assume any legal responsibility for misuse of the products discussed in this article.
