Nipping, Barking & Humping took her down

Our 4-legged pain management Guru's adoption opportunities went BUST when she wouldn’t stop nipping, barking and humping. 

Being devoid of human excuses and “you made me do it”, Connie's behavior offers an inarguable view of habits and consequences.

BOOM! Nobody made her do it. She chose it. Nipping, barking and humping resulted in Connie going through a succession of good homes before she went to her superfantastic furever home, where they managed her flaws. 

If you were granted the life of your dreams, which habits would you need to ramp up or eliminate to have a healthy relationship?  

                                                             

Gossip, Drama, Ghosting and MoMo

Feel the energy, trust YOURSELF and take action

Gossip, drama and ghosting are highly magnetic energies that suck people in to bad circumstances. You have the power to be part of it or to X out.

Harmful people don't dress in sinister costumes like the MoMo pop up, they don’t necessarily act weird either. Yes, some are mean and forceful, but some are really reeeeallly nice to you and they talk and act in ways they know will suck you into being or doing what they want you to be or do. 

You will know if they want to help or hurt you through your senses and intuition. If you feel confused or you get the heebie-jeebie weird vibe in your gut DO NOT TRUST THEM. Trust YOURSELF and find a way to leave.

UNCOMFORTABLE ENERGY VIBES demand ATTENTION & ACTION

When you feel uncomfortable or mentally, emotionally or physically unsafe decide what you will do to stay safe before something happens and do it like your life depends on it. 

Telling someone you trust is a HEROIC LIFE-SAVING ACTION that could save yourself and others. #metoo demonstrated the power of talking about it.


Need to cleanse toxic relationships from your life ?        

...and then she opened a can of Whoop-ass!

Everyone is a teacher.

Jesse watched us in sheer delight like we were a clip on Americas Funniest Videos as I ran laps behind my kindergartener who ran around in circles until I caught him and put his snowsuit and boots on.

Time Standing Still

I told my son, “You did not teach a good lesson today.”

The next day his jaw dropped when he saw Jesse's mother run laps behind him in the vestibule. Okay, I admit it, it was hilarious...until she stopped…and opened a can of whoop-ass.

Jesse froze. His coat, boots and mittens went on in record time while he was harshly reprimanded, grounded and lost privileges for a week.   

The guilt on my son's face left no question: he knew he taught a bad lesson. 

Either we lead like the Little Engine who DID or we follow like a caboose on someone else's train. Those are our choices. We are all teachers.

As parents of adults, we don't chase our children around the cavernous vestibule in our mind. We stand in the energy frequency of faith and love where we hold the high watch knowing our best seeds bear fruit for our children. This is the meaning of prayer. It is done.

No one said it was easy to stop running laps around the vestibule--ask the Little Engine how difficult it is to master the demons in our mind and have faith when the terrain is rough--but we know it's possible to apply the principles of constructive thought and release it into the flow of the highest knowing it is done.

Deah

Rescue Dog's Miracle

Our pain management guru, Connie-pups, or perhaps the people around her, wove miracles with positive intentions and prayer bolded in her story below: 

Connie, an elderly dog with advanced osteo-arthritis, was surrendered by loving owners who could not offer medical care. 

HART Rescue’s mandate to improve dog's lives through fostering, behavior training and veterinary care aligned with my desire to foster to use my healing gifts to help dogs. Connie got healthier and stronger and I wished she had more psychological stimulation, like a companion dog or cat and a larger “sniffier” back yard. 

As we dreamed a big dream for Connie the Universe was making moves. When Connie came to HART a family who was fostering another dog wanted Connie, the timing wasn’t right, she needed to be with me … and then the magic happened ... their dog was adopted, I got injured, Connie had to go up for fostering, and 

                                                             BOOM! 

The stars aligned, the family that wanted Connie took her in, and, wait for it, here comes the miracle . . .  

Connie's new home has a dog, two cats, a doggy-door to a large “sniffier” backyard, AND she gets to go camping! It's doggy heaven!

Our highest intentions and prayers for Connie were answered. 

Connie. the unintended pain management guru’s journey demonstrates: 

• Energy medicine and prayers work: MIRACLES HAPPEN, but maybe not exactly the way we expect...it didn't heal her arthritis, it made the best of her life.
• Knowing what you want, acting in alignment with It and letting the Universe do Its part is a recipe for miracles.
• Connie sweetly and patiently surrendered to the Universe and the Universe surrendered to Connie. 

As bittersweet bon voyages go: the forecast is extreme happiness that Connie-Pups got the dream life we wanted for her, sprinkled a few tears...I miss my Connie-girl.

Pain Management Puzzle

The Pain Predicament

During a TV interview, two healthy-looking ladies who were suffering with pain said their pain management classes taught that it was best not to show pain {no moaning, groaning or holding body parts}, and not to talk about pain with others unless saying “no” without explanation would hurt someone’s feelings or kill the relationship.

Is this pup in pain? A group photo in a magazine's tagline was, “Which person in the group photo (of smiley-faced people) has chronic pain?” The next line said, “They all do”, including the pup in the photo. The pain management group photo and Connie-Pup's photo demonstrate that how we look may not be an accurate way to judge pain.

People who put a smile on their face and do their best in spite of pain upgrade their own mental health and give their best to the world, however, pain is a relentless beast that will take them down the minute they get home. Therein lies the conundrum: doing our best, when our best changes from one second to the next, and putting on a happy face may result in being misunderstood and misjudged; not putting on a happy face is social suicide in a world where “can’t” is judged as a sharp-edged “won’t”.

When pain management and people management collide: we don’t want to hurt your feelings, we don’t want to lose your friendship, we don’t want to talk about how much pain we’re really in cause we’ll have an emotional melt-down, it's just that when we say we can’t it’s not about you, it’s not a choice, we just can’t right now. 

Stray Dog Unlikely Pain Management Guru

Connie, a 12-year old stray dog with advanced osteo-arthritis turned out to be a pain management guru.

When Connie's whining, sleeplessness, and need for attention was deemed to be separation anxiety and her personality and personal choices were viewed as attention getting, Connie was actually waging a war with pain that was more intense than her very loving caregivers knew.  

When Connie's meds were increased her face softened, her hair laid flatter, she slept peacefully, she whined less and her exuberant, people-loving, hard-working personality surged forth: she walked faster, she pulled on the leash, she walked further until she hurt herself, and then, and only then, did she lay down and rest. 

When her pain meds were decreased her pain increased, her sleep was interrupted, she wandered around the house at night, she whined more, was capable of less...you get the drift.

There was no psychological overlay to her behaviour: Connie was unaware of medications or dosage. It was simple: the worse she felt the less she could do, the better she felt the more she did-- she did what she loved until it hurt and then she rested. This is animal nature, it is our nature: when we feel better we do better. 

For those of us managing extreme pain, including mental/emotional pain, consider Connie's situation and stop beating yourself up. Walk a mile in Connie's paws, she does her best every day, when she can do more she does more and sometimes she endures great pain and long recovery because she simply must satisfy her spirit's need to do what she loves. 

That is the nature of pain management. While Connie's first choice is to follow her spirit and do what she loves, people take care of business until it takes them down and they leave the rest, messy house, dirty dishes, lost connections. Connie's caregivers and our families and friends help us when they ride along with the ups and downs of the pain wave and they do with us when we can, do for us when we can't and don't punish us when we shouldn't have done it but we did it anyways.

Stuck in the Story

Confidence to Choose Your Path

Sometimes the dramatic stories shaping our lives overshadow the whole picture & the richness in the background of our lives fades away like it never existed.  

When we are stuck in the story, or the story is stuck in us, let's flip the script and allow the loving elements that have always supported our authentic selves to come out of the background and become the focus of our attention. 

Sometimes we go with the flow of the crowd and sometimes, like Starfall, the Ebony horse above, we step out to follow our heart. 

Let's choose our path and clomp, stomp, plod, prance and dance to the beat of our true heart. That's really why we're here.