You are a parent of the best children in the world. You want to make them happy, give them the best you can, show them how much you love them.
Until one day one of them asks you for a dog.
You panic a little. A dog? One more mouth to feed, one more expense you can't afford, something else you have no time for? Forget it kid.
He insists. Get me a dog, pleeeeese? I'll take care of it. I'll walk it, feed it, clean up after it, love it to death. Please can I have a dog?
No. I don't even like dogs. All they do is chew on the furniture I'm still paying for and kill the grass that I work so hard on. And I know you. Give it a week and you'll find something else you just have to have and you'll forget about it. No way.
Please? Please, please, pleeeeese?
Eventually you give in, or your spouse does, or some meddling relative does, sneaking a puppy in the house when you weren't looking.
Dammit. You better make sure I don't have to do anything for this dog!
But, just like you predicted, after naming the puppy a cute name, enjoying the newness of responsibility and a fun plaything for a few months, schoolwork, soccer practice and music lessons fill every extra second in your children's life and the poor dog takes a backseat to their attention span.
Now what?
Now you have a decision to make. Should you find the puppy a new home, risking the kids hating you for a month or two, or should you keep it and resent it for becoming just one more problem to worry about for the next twelve years?
Maybe you should just take a little time to explore why this dog is here in the first place. Dig a little deeper. Make friends with your new family member. Watch him, play with him, train him. You might find yourself falling in love. You might recognize the real reason this dog showed up in your life - and it might be you. Ask him why he worked so hard to come live with you - because maybe he was the one who needed to be with you and your family, and your child was channeling for him. Your child just happened to be in the perfect state of open heart and mind to allow the puppy speak to you in a language you'd understand.
"Please, can I come live with you? I promise there's a perfectly good reason for me to be in your life."
Before you know it, your best friend is the dog that the puppy grew up into.
Imagine:
You're surfing the internet one day and come across some videos of cute parrots. You've never had any interest in birds before, don't even feed the ones that gather in your yard every morning. They poop all over the place, attract mites and make a lot of noise. You've always considered birds a nuisance, but on this peculiar day you find yourself attracted to the ones in the videos and don't notice the bug that's now planted in the back of your brain.
It's just a passing fancy, you decide. You'd never bring a bird home, so forget about it. And you do, for a while.
Then the back of your mind starts to tickle. You buy a bird feeder, hang it in your yard and fill it with seed. You start to enjoy the morning birdsong and learn to identify the birds by their calls. You buy a book about birds, or two, or three. You start planning your afternoon relaxation time outside, lounging on your lawn chair in the shade while watching the birds come and go, play with each other, and argue over whatever they argue about. You actually look forward to it.
You talk to the guy that hangs out with his parrot downtown to learn what he enjoys about his feathered friend. You start to envy other parrot owners and donate money to bird rescues. You find yourself hanging out with the parakeets at the pet store up the street. You whistle and coo at them, finding them quite entertaining. I suppose I could try it, you decide. I can start with a small bird, a canary or something. See if I can effectively take care of it. See if I like it.
So you pick a parakeet, buy a cage and fill it with toys, invest in premium food and perches, and move your furniture around to make room by the window. You name your bird something cute and eventually don't mind cleaning the cage every other day. At first the bird is wary of you and bites you when you get too close, but because you've explored training styles and learn to calm your pounding heart, your panic subsides and soon you've taught the parakeet to trust you. Soon your bird bonds with you, hangs out with you where ever you go in the house and cheers when you come home from work. You realize you are hooked. You even think about bringing home another one.Now is the time to wonder why - why, when you've spent the first half of your life barely noticing the bird world, do you find yourself craving the company of your bird?
Why, indeed.
These stories and more like them are happening all over the world. Pet ownership is skyrocketing. In 2015 over eighty million people in the U.S. had pets and spent over sixty billion dollars on them. Scientists have finally admitted that animals are empathetic, conscious beings and pet parents are laughing at them for taking so long to figure that out. Over and over again I hear stories about people and their soul partners, their grief over losing them too soon, the memories that changed their lives, and their need to be reconnected with their true loves. These stories are usually about their companion animals!
The animal kingdom has figured out a way to get into our hearts and guide us into a better world. They come into our homes and change us in a direct and purposeful way.
They work with our higher selves, who whisper in our ears until we finally give in and bring our animal companions home, then they work on our hearts. They come to us to heal our various wounds, teach us lessons we need to learn and grow as human beings, befriend us to raise our self esteem, stand by us when we feel alone. Like us humans, animals come into this world with a purpose, and unlike us, our animal companions never forget the importance of their purpose.
We are in charge of this planet. Our mother earth is craving a change, a vibratory growth, an evolutionary advancement, and we need to facilitate that growth or risk killing the planet.
To do this we need to advance as well, and the animal kingdom figured out how to assist that advancement. They work to expand our hearts, bathe us in love and acceptance, gently coax us into changing our perspective until we become better humans despite ourselves. As our companions channel love into our hearts we channel love into our homes and into the earth. As we expand into a higher vibration of being, we become a stronger support system for planetary growth.
It's a different kind of food chain. The small hearts feed the bigger hearts until we all join together to feed the biggest heart of all - the heart of Gaia. Love is the ultimate source of energy for us all.
So, even if you end up with a dog you didn't want in the first place, take a little time to thank him for showing up anyway, then let him into your heart. Let him do his job, fulfill his purpose. Let him do his work on you and see where it leads you. Reflect on the animals that had come into your life before this one and take note of the direction your life went after them. It might take a little time to add two and two together, but I guarantee there are connections to be made.
Let your animals guide you into a better world.
