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The big decisions on behalf of your animal companions are inevitable and rarely easy to make. Trusting yourself when you’re stressed out or when you face the potential loss of a beloved companion can feel overwhelming and scary. Seeing your companions in pain and suffering can really get you ungrounded, in which case it’s very hard to be clear.
There are no exceptions; everyone is having a very human experience. So when you’re in the middle of a big decision about your animal, it can be natural to look externally for the answers. Let’s face it: we’re all so programmed to give away our power in those moments to another person. We just want the problem solved and long for someone else to fix it.
We’re taught to trust those individuals who we believe to be more knowledgeable than we are. Healing practitioners do serve an amazing purpose, and I highly encourage creating a team of those you can rely on and trust to partner with you to help you determine the best course of action you can take when making a major decision about your animal(s).
The subconscious desire to let someone else tell you what to do is created to avoid the potential pain you perceive you might feel (if you make the “wrong” choice) or might cause your beloved animal. This avoidance actually prevents you from tapping into your inner wisdom, which is the land of golden clarity and it holds the key to knowing the highest and best path for your beloved animals. Yes, it takes courage and intention to cultivate and then listen to your inner guidance, but doing so will help you mature and grow, and you will learn to trust yourself.
Breathe in this truth: No one knows your animals better than you.
Following are three steps to catapult you out of the land of ambiguity so you will have clarity when making big decisions on behalf of your animal companion. 1. Help from a Higher Power This one act can help more than all the others combined. It will remind you that you’re not in this alone and that there are indeed spiritual resources to help you with any and all decisions. Time and time again, I’ve heard clients’ stories of miraculous shifts when they asked for help from God, angels, or whomever they resonate with in a higher realm. When you rely solely on the physical world to get you through tough times and big decisions on behalf of your animal, it limits the potential for less suffering for you both. Many years ago, my cat MaiTai had gotten into a cupboard and then jumped through a small hole in the side wall of it and was trapped in a tiny area between two cupboards, and for whatever reason he was unable to jump back through the hole. He frantically tried for hours, and I tried everything I could think of to help him gain traction to get back out, all to no avail. We were both stressed out. I paced around the house, talking out loud, and thinking, What will I do? Call the fire department? Finally, I remembered my go-to question when I’m feeling helpless in a situation with one of my animal companions—What would I tell my client to do in this situation? Immediately I called upon a Higher Power and Archangel Michael to help MaiTai, and within seconds he had easily jumped through the hole and walked over to me. Sometimes, we just need to get out of our own way so help may arrive. You might also find that spirit speaks through a friend, family member, or practitioner during times of need. You will know when the guidance is coming from spirit, through the person, because it will resonate in your heart to be truth for you. If you are praying or asking for help and guidance, always ask for the highest and best outcome for your animal to occur and try, as much as possible, to be unattached to any specific outcome. This keeps the situation string-free for God to navigate through the heart of the matter. Believing in a higher power is up to you, of course, but if you do, you’ll find it’s a resource like no other. To trust and have faith that you are being universally supported will bring you relief and allow grace to be the center of your big decision. 2. Surrender the Outcome Let me be clear up front: surrendering the outcome doesn’t necessarily mean that you shouldn’t take action. It simply means to release what you think has to happen so what really needs to happen can reveal itself. It’s difficult when we’re so attached to our animals to not be invested in the outcome, but it’s worth the effort to shift your energy. Once you release the need for the outcome to be a particular way, other options to help you with your big decision will appear, which could be even better than you imagined possible. 3. Heads Up! You’ll be surprised at the unique and creative ways that answers to your questions are trying to find you. In every situation where there is uncertainty in the choice you make and you have asked for guidance, help, or signs, be awake and aware of your surroundings and coincidences that could hold key answers to your questions. There might be someone who calls you out of the blue who holds the nugget of truth you needed to hear. You might receive answers in your dreams or through symbolism in the world around you. Maybe you’ll notice a bumper sticker or sign along the road with a message. Nature can be one of the clearest channels from which to receive symbolic messages to help you with your decision. There are many websites and books to assist in clarifying specific interpretations from nature and animals in the wild. I’m most drawn to the books by (the late) Ted Andrews, but follow your guidance as to what’s right for you. Once I had awakened to receiving messages through nature, I noticed there were hidden treasures everywhere to help me make the best decisions. I quickly came to rely on this resource that the universe had easily provided on my behalf. Your animal companion could also be the one giving you the messages. For instance, if you are on the fence about whether or not your animal would like assistance in their transition, one of the signs might be that no matter what form of medical assistance you give, the situation doesn’t get better or a new physical symptom shows up right after the other one has healed. When your animal companion is ready to go and you have integrated the gifts they have brought to you, their bodies will continue to manifest a means to release. There have been very direct signs from my animals every time I’ve had to make that decision on their behalf. There are endless stories of animals giving their guardians obvious signs to help them make a decision on their behalf. Once we are able to release our fears, we can more easily observe the situation from a higher perspective which brings clarity because we are then navigating from our hearts. There is divine order and timing present in the middle of every decision you make on your animals’ behalf. Go within yourself first for answers to the questions that are plaguing you. Hold on to your decision-making power and make a choice that you know in your heart is right, and if it’s not clear, wait until it is. Everything will unfold just as it should.
(More help for making big decisions can be found in Tammy's book Soul Healing with Our Animal Companions)
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