What are the blessings of having a pet?

Dear friend,

Do you have a pet?

If yes,

you are already well aware

of many of the blessings

of having your dear friend.


If no,

I hope reading about

all the potential benefits

will encourage you

to open your heart to one.

Most people would say

that the primary benefit of having a pet

is that we receive companionship

and unconditional love.


Indeed we do.

We are protected

from feeling lonely and unloved

which we all feel sometimes

even if we are loved and connected.

For those of us who are alone

and do not presently

have a loving person living with us,

the love and companionship of a pet

can help protect us

from feeling hopeless and depressed.

These are all huge blessings!

Further gifts

But today I want to offer you

some thoughts on how having a pet

has the potential

to do even more for us.

What might that be?

I believe that the day to day experience

of caring for our pet

can increase our self awareness.

.
If we are willing to observe ourselves,

we can gain valuable insight

into our own nature.

We then have the opportunity

to apply our new insight

to building ourselves

into a stronger,

more tender,

more aware person.

Having a pet is a relationship

Let’s begin with the fundamental recognition

that we don’t own our pet

as we own a car.

A dog or cat

is not an object.

I am going to repeat that.

a dog or cat is not an object.

He or she is

a highly emotional

and highly sensitive living being.

Therefore when we have a pet

we are always

in an emotional relationship with them.

And the kind of emotional relationship

we build with them

reveals a great deal

about our mind, our soul, our character.

Benefits of learning to relate

Learning to relate patiently,

tenderly and constructively

with our pet

develops our emotional health.

It develops our capability

to build a healthy relationship

with a friend or love partner.

It also builds our capability

to be a good parent

grandparent, aunt or uncle

to a child or young person.

Successfully parenting a pet

prepares us

for taking a responsible role

in relationship with another life.

Strong tender and aware

The essential capabilities we need

to build all healthy relationships are:

strength, tenderness and awareness.

Through evaluating our relationship

with our pet we can learn:

Am I strong and tender and aware?

Do I handle my power gently?

Our actual power

with our pet is immense.

We hold their lives

in our hands,

just as if they were a baby.


Being strong in a relationship

is completely different

from being on a power trip.

Being strong with our pet

means tenderly and gently

channeling our power

only for their benefit

never for their harm.

When we are weak

When we are feeling weak

or stressed out

we may feel tempted

to assert phony power over our pet

in order to give ourselves

the illusion of strength.

When we shout at them

or strike them

cause them suffering

by neglecting their needs

or pen them up

beyond what is necessary

we may feel “powerful”

but at their expense.

It takes courage to acknowledge

that we have sometimes

mistreated our pets

to make ourselves feel

like the big shot.

But most of us—

just as in our relationships

with humans—

at some point in time

have done so.

The liberating power of self awareness

The beauty of self awareness

is that it opens our mind

to recognize the need

to change.

Seeing our need to improve

gives us the opportunity

to change our ways

while we have a pet

before we go on

to treat a love partner

or our kids or grandkids

less than kindly.

Becoming aware that

we ourselves can sometimes be bullies

behaving much like the big shots we despise

can hit us hard.

Go ahead, let it hit.

It won’t kill us.

It will liberate us.

Our transformation

We know we can do better.

We know we can transform our ways.

We do this by challenging ourselves:

Why would I want to play the bully

who intimidates my pet

(or my partner or my child)

when I could be

the strong, tender and aware person

who nurtures and defends them?

The ultimate blessing

of having a pet is

we get to grow.

If we let them

we will be amazed

how beautiful a human being

our pet will make us.

Blessings,

Dr. Hall

Question:

In what ways have you been blessed by a pet?