Notes From The Awareness: 206

How we treat our pets reflects how we would like to be nurtured.

Please discuss. How does this play out in life?

I’ll start us out. Most households have a pet, sometimes more than one. Common pets are cats and dogs, but rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, gerbils, fish, birds and reptiles are also favored. Pets provide companionships for us and may serve as guardians or pest control, as well.

Yet, their most important function is not seemingly practical: they are the recipients of our pure, uncomplicated love. Human relationships can be complex. Ego and control issues can infiltrate the dynamics. Relationships with our pets tend to be more straightforward. We feed them and tend to their physical needs, while they are grateful and enjoy our care. It’s usually a mutual appreciation scenario, easy for both parties to understand. We love them; they love us; we’re all happy.

Today’s message reminds me to look a little more closely at my relationship with my cats to help me understand myself more fully. My love and care for them is the highest expression of unconditional love of which I am capable. It mirrors, in an ideal sense, how I would desire to be treated. Reflection on whether I tend myself as faithfully as I do my felines may also be illustrative. My interactions with the cats can illuminate my inner sense of self.

How about you? Do you have pets, and if so, what does your relationship with them tell you about yourself?