How I found the thing I’d been looking for for so long
A YouTube video I almost didn’t watch, one simple exercise, and a series of synchronicities I never saw coming. Here’s how I accidentally found the “work” I love so much.
Some problems can be solved with four rescue dogs and twelve million dollars. Others might require five dogs.
But seriously, have you ever noticed how much easier life feels when there’s an animal beside you?
They don’t need you to have your life together. They don’t care whether you’ve ticked everything off your to-do list. And they certainly don’t expect you to be productive every minute of the day.
Sometimes, they just want to be with you. And somehow, that can make all the difference.
What if they could actually help us understand why life feels hard in the first place?
We all have things we’d love to change about our lives.
Maybe we keep ending up in the same frustrating situations.
Maybe we overthink every decision, struggle to say no, or find ourselves getting disproportionately upset about things that probably shouldn’t be such a big deal.
And yes, sometimes life really is hard. Other people behave badly. Circumstances are unfair. Things happen that we have absolutely no control over.
But sometimes, we’re also making life harder for ourselves.
Not deliberately, of course. Nobody wakes up thinking, ‘Today, I’d like to sabotage my own happiness.‘
Much of what we do is shaped by habits we’ve developed over the years.
Some started in childhood, when we figured out how to get love, stay safe, avoid conflict or feel accepted.
Others grew out of experiences that taught us to be cautious, to please everyone, or to keep our feelings to ourselves.
And those patterns can stick around long after we need them.
We might be adults now, perfectly capable of looking after ourselves, yet still feel guilty whenever we put our own needs first.
We might desperately want connection while pushing people away the moment we feel vulnerable.
The tricky part? These patterns are so familiar that we don’t always recognise them.
They’re simply the way things are.
Our pets watch us every day: our morning routine, us coming home stressed from work, the arguments on the phone, and those midnight existential crises. Our good days and our bad ones – they see it all.
They also see our moods, our routines and the way we respond to the world.
We tend to think of ourselves as the teachers in our relationships with pets.
We teach them how to behave, where to poop, that shoes aren’t chew toys and why the postman is not, in fact, a mortal enemy.
But what if the learning goes both ways?
So, what can our animals actually teach us?
Quite a lot, as it turns out. And not necessarily in the ways you’d expect.
Sometimes, our animals have just the perspective we need to hear.
Pippa’s dog Rowan helped her let go of the guilt she’d felt since his passing. (Read the story)
A garden robin reminded Becky that she didn’t have to be the best singer in the garden to sing her own song. (Read the story)
And Claire’s cat Beau reminded her that the answers she was searching for were already within her. (Read the story)
So the next time your dog looks at you or your cat curls up beside you, pause for a moment.
Look at them.
Look at yourself.
And ask: What is this relationship teaching me?
You might discover your pet has also been giving you a fresh perspective on yourself.
And perhaps that’s worth more than twelve million dollars.
Although, if anyone would like to send me the twelve million dollars and four rescue dogs, I’m certainly open to the possibility. 😇
A YouTube video I almost didn’t watch, one simple exercise, and a series of synchronicities I never saw coming. Here’s how I accidentally found the “work” I love so much.
Julia had been carrying a lot of guilt. Then her cat, her turkey and finally her dog all had something to say about it. And they made a pretty compelling case…
Jennifer Shlomovich is an Alignment Coach and Vegan Educator who helps women create healthier, more compassionate, and more authentic lives.
In this conversation we chat about our vegan journeys, listening to our intuition, synchronicities, animal communication and what happened during and after Jen’s HeartKin session