“Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance.” – St. Francis of Assisi
I can be at the depth of my energy and drive and ambition and endurance and resilience and sanity – at the absolute edge with it all and I still know that everything around me is a blessing. No matter how frustrated I myself become with the elements depending on what the ebb and flow of the days have brought and emptied me of – no matter how insane I think that I am from the everyday battle of whether or not we can continue to do what we do everyday for the animals – I always realize the miracle. Nothing that is this difficult would leave us without reward when we dedicate every ounce of ourselves to it. Being able to actually SEE the reward when your vision can become so clouded with the obscure factors in human life that have a tendency to take over is a trick in itself. There is no constant gratification for what we struggle with but what the animals give to us. It is in itself the fact that we can see that we are blessed to have them around us that we can thank them for. It is just BEing with them that is the benefit – who we become because of our connection with them – what the responsibility of caring for them 24/7 teaches us – how it all keeps us grounded – down to earth with a perspective that can only come from the truest balance of nature. The reward is everywhere and no matter how seemingly impossible it may seem to maintain this little place of balance and bliss – no matter how difficult the struggle – it could never outweigh what it gives back – everyday. How could you ever give up on the creatures that make you aware of the little blessings that are all around you? They take the time to make you sit and wait and feel and live in the moment. We can search our whole lives for the people that can bring us such a balance. Our animals do it on instinct – to communicate to us their wisdom. If you take the moment to worry and complain – you must also enjoy the moments of sheer bliss when the world is telling you to take stock in what you do have – ie. your animals asking you how you are doing and insisting that you take a breath and be honest with them – knowing of course that you can never lie to your animals. They know before seeing you – how you are feeling and will do anything to take part in what you are going through and help you however they can. I wish more people were like that – instead of hiding behind facades and appearances and egos and histories and judgements and pretensions and drama. Animals have no use for any of this and for this reason we can confide in them when we need to remove it all and be real. I am the best that I can be for my animals. They make me real.