Good morning lovely you!
I am sitting here, as usual, sipping my morning tea. I had planned to write about a different topic today. But as I sat here waiting for my laptop to boot up, thinking about my beautiful little Zuzu, I became aware of how much this sweet cat has injected my life with pure love (or purr love). And so I decided to change topics on the fly and talk about what our beloved pets can teach us about love.
We don’t always realize that we can learn FROM our pets. We know our dogs and cats make us feel warm and fuzzy inside and depending on how hairy they are, warm and fuzzy on the outside as well.
We’ve read the studies that show pets can help us heal, lower our blood pressure and keep our hearts healthy and relieve stress, anxiety, and depression. Phew! As if that wasn’t enough, pets offer us profound life lessons, if only we are open to receiving them.
Here are some ways our pets can teach us about love:
Loyalty
Our pets are not fair-weathered friends. They are there for us night and day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The rest of the world could turn against us, but our four-legged companions have our back, front and sides no matter what.
How many of us can say the same thing? When is the last time you called a friend just to see how they were doing? When was the last time you just sat with a loved one in their grief, quietly comforting them?
Showing loyalty is one way we love each other. Take a note from your fur baby and start stepping up to the plate more.
Acceptance
Why do so many of us prefer to stay at home with our pets than spend the night out with our human companions? Because our pets accept us as is. This means if we haven’t showered in two days they won’t turn their nose up at us. If our mascara is running from crying, if we’ve put on a few pounds, if we are acting like an idiot, they don’t care. They love us AS WE ARE.
When you think about it, that is the holiest form of love there is – unconditional love. Really think about that. I know you’ve heard this concept before, that our dogs and cats love us unconditionally, but think of the power of that love. No. Matter. What… they love us and think we are the greatest thing in their life.
If you are a parent you know about unconditional love, but how good at unconditional love are you with other people? Do you accept your friends, family and colleagues AS THEY ARE, or would you prefer that they acted more like you want them to?
Joy
Your dog(s) and/or cat(s) LOVE spending time with you. You can tell because of the joy and enthusiasm they show you. Your dog may jump up and down and wag his tail the minute you come in the door. Your cat may rub up against your leg back and forth, or, when you scoop her up, rub her head into yours affectionately.
We could come in the door in the crabbiest mood, yelling and stomping around. And while they may scatter for a second until we’ve calmed down, as soon as we do, they will come over with grand enthusiasm once again.
Do we show our loved ones HOW MUCH we love them, or do we take spending time with them for granted? Telling someone you love them with words is okay, but SHOWING how much joy they bring you just by being in your life is one of the most powerful ways to show the people you love HOW MUCH you love them.
Protection/Comfort
Whether it’s your dog barking at a stranger walking up the sidewalk or your cat sitting near your head, purring, as you suffer through a cold, animals have an instinct to take care of us. We may think WE are the ones that are taking care of them, and yes, to a certain degree we do. But our pets take care of us each and every day. They want us to be safe and well and will even put themselves in harm’s way to make sure we are OKAY.
Loving is caring for someone. It’s thinking of their well-being and doing things that will bring them comfort and security. This can be as simple as smiling at a neighbor, making soup for a sick friend, or offering a ride to a family member. Love is a VERB. To show love, do more for those you love.
I dedicate this blog post to my beautiful ZuZu and all of the gentle animal spirits I have shared my life with. You have all taught me so much. I Love you.
And I love YOU, too.
Prue.
