To understand this article, you first need to understand my spiritual inclinations. I do not subscribe to any one particular religion, but have a very spiritual nature and believe that every creature in this world is a miracle unto itself. Even the not so lovable ones have a purpose. Although I do have to keep reminding myself of that with human beings, I seldom have to remind myself of that with members of the animal kingdom. I also believe that animals, as sentient, cognizant beings, have souls. The other belief I have is that souls attract souls- for a purpose although we may not be able to identify the purpose at any given time.
I am teaching my five year old daughter to honor and respect life, even down to the reptilian and insect world. I do not allow her to engage in typical 5 year old pursuits such as ant stomping and bug de-winging, nor does she get to singe bugs with a magnifying glass! None of this was taught to me. I was an ant stomper, I sadly must admit. As I became wiser, I realized that if God created these creatures, and they had a right to be here as much as I did. I was doing myself no favors by intentionally inflicting harm. Although the one prejudice I CANNOT get past is cockroaches--- I will still do one of them in if it is in my house!
Stay with me on this, I AM going to eventually make a point after the waffling...
The other day, poolside in our back yard, there was a lovely, small, delicate blue dragonfly flitting around the side of the pool. I love dragonflies and have always been fascinated by them. So is my daughter- to their misfortune. She relentlessly chased this dragonfly around trying to capture it in her hand. I explained to her that it was better to use her eyes to admire it than her hands to catch it. I pointed out that it was so small and delicate that it could easily be crushed if she tried to grab it. The dragonfly and my daughter played a game of chase for about 15 minutes before I asked her again to stop because if it became fatigued and landed in the pool, it would drown because it's wings would get wet and too heavy to fly out. I took her hand, placed it about a foot away from where the dragonfly had lit down again on the side of the pool and told her to be calm, gentle, and patient. I said, "If it is his choice, the dragon fly will choose YOU- you cannot choose him". Within 5 seconds the dragonfly lit down on my childs hand and she laughed with delight. I smiled at her and said, "See, he DID choose you once you stopped chasing. You have been blessed." The dragonfly landed on her hand a few more times within the next few minutes and then flew away. My daughter smiled.
I think the same is true with companion animals. My entire life, every animal I ever owned was a stray, and I can remember the name of each of them and difficult times they got me through in my life. A few months ago, I was desperately working on saving a dog from a Georgia shelter and had contributed $400 so a rescue would take him. The adoption coordinator said that he was her kind of dog too, but why would a person put so much money down on ONE dog when there were so many others in need. I could give her no answer except to say that something in that middle aged, scruffy dog touched my heart. He wasn't coming to me, but I knew that I was being called to save him. For what, I had no idea, but I irritated my entire friend and group list for at least 6 weeks trying to save him as did a few others that jumped on the "save Truman" wagon. My husband would have throttled me if he had known about the money, so I had to sneak it away, but this dog HAD to be saved. And he was. Some wonderful Georgia folks coordinated his rescue and he went to foster for heartworm treatment. When I inquired about him last week, I found out he was adopted, and was very loved. He was just a plain brown doggy dog, and although his purpose was not to enhance my life, I believe it was to enhance someone else's.
With the two dogs I have now, both were adopted through rescue organizations and had been pulled from shelters. As soon as I saw Alex and Stubbs, 6 years apart, both of them spoke to me and I knew immediately that they had chosen me. My life is better because of them. Alex has given me comfort for years through good times and some very bad ones. He is a shoulder to cry on and is always by my side. Stubbs, the big lug, follows me everywhere too. He is my funny boy who makes me laugh and was the motivator for me to start this blog and my facebook page to save shelter animals and to promote responsible pet ownership and to help people love, keep, and enjoy their companion animals for life.
You don't choose them. Whether you know it or not, THEY choose you. You have been blessed to have been chosen. Now honor that blessing.
