The practice of gratitude is a powerful tool for helping you cope with and heal after the loss of a beloved animal companion. In today’s blog, I’ll share a technique – or rather a perspective – you can use to move from grief to gratitude and open up to peace and joy in the midst of your grief.
Nature is a trusted companion on our healing journey, and for today, let’s once again turn to nature.
I suggest that you either go out in nature or simply look out of your window at the sky as dawn breaks in all its beauty. As you watch that sunrise, let your pain and grief still be there – don’t push it away – but simply shift your focus to the beauty of the sunrise you have before you.
Take your time to really become present in this moment.
As you allow yourself to open up to the beauty of the sunrise, you may experience a feeling of awe, and of gratitude.
Hold that feeling of awe, gratitude in your heart while you think of your animal companion that has passed. Then consciously shift your perspective or make the intention, that ‘as long as you are alive, you will experience the beauty for both of you’, as it is so beautifully stated in the quote:
“As long as I can I will look at this world for both of us. As long as I can I will laugh with the birds, I will sing with the flowers, I will pray to the stars, for both of us”. ~ author unknown
Our animals are such wonderful teachers. As you work on finding your way through the grief and back to gratitude, why not honor your animal friend by learning from their life and all their wonderful qualities.
Allow your animal companion to help you learn to live life fully – that’s what animals are so good at. That’s one of the reasons they bring us so much joy.
Why not try this:
“Just for today, I’ll be grateful for both of us – grateful for a new day, grateful for the beauty I see, and the beauty I carry in my heart of the memories of you.”
One day at a time.
Just for today….
How will you finish this sentence?
On Saturday I was told that my cat was very ill and then was told how much money it would cost to treat her. I could not afford what the treatments would have cost and I was feeling so overwhelmed by it all that I felt that my only way out was to agree to have her put to sleep. I am not sure what is more difficult for me to deal with, the loss of my cat or the guilt that I feel at having to put her down because I could not afford the very expensive treatment that she would have needed to prolong her life. How do I deal with the enormous guilt that I feel?
Hi Chryl, For you I suggest the following:
1) Go to the home page and sign up for the Grief Support e-course.
2) It will also be very important for you to listen to the Healing Pet Loss Podcast.
3) Get a copy of my Healing Pet Loss book, read it and do the exercises.
4) Use the search box (at the top of each page), search on “guilt” and read the articles in the search results that come up.
Blessings,
Marianne