Love Yourself with the Help of a Pet

      

By Dr. Margit Gabriele Muller

Dr. Margit Gabriele Muller   In our hectic world with lot of stress and pressure on us, we often succumb to the negativity of our environment. We are not happy at work, a friend is divorcing, the kids make problems, the money is not enough and the urgently needed loan doesn’t get approved. This leads not just to constant frustration but also brings us mentally down and hurts our soul. The phrase “It’s not worth it” brings us in a downward spiral from which it is hard to escape and eventually ends up in depression. But what can we do to get out of this vicious circle? Let’s take a step back and look deep into our soul. We need a soothing influence, profound caring, and selfless love to heal ourselves. But often our life partners or friends cannot give this to us, no matter due to what reason. This is where our pets come in to support and uplift us. Pets can help us to rebuild our self-confidence because taking care of a pet and nurturing it helps to create a new-found sense of worthiness and therefore boosts confidence. Moreover, the warmth of our pet’s love can help to comfort and console us in challenging times. This creates a profound sense of belonging and acceptance which can help us to put our problems into a different context, overcome them and become more resilient. In those seemingly hopeless situations, we often cannot develop trust in ourselves and others. A wonderful way to learn this is to have a pet. Same as children often regard their pets as their best friends, love them and share their feelings and emotions with them including their secrets, hopes, dreams and also their worries and sadness, we can do the same. A pet will never betray our trust as people sometimes do. This amazing example helps us to learn building a solid trust in ourselves, to trust others and to establish strong, meaningful relationships with others in the future. Trusting ourselves also lays the foundation for overcoming obstacles in life with resilience and willpower. If we trust ourselves, our heart and soul get eased because we know that we can withstand all hindrances and get out of them alive and strengthened. We have to learn to understand that often obstacles and problems are a hard but necessary path to prepare us for what comes next in our lives. Only like this we have the strength to successfully navigate what is meant for us. When we look back at our lives, we can see only years later how much we needed to go through those difficulties as a kind of waiting room for much better and bigger opportunities to come for us and be ready for them. Although we do not understand it during this preparation time while we are in it, it shapes us for our future lives by giving us the necessary skill sets and personal character improvement. People who lack self-esteem, will not be able to develop their full potential and to become self-assured. Without self-esteem, our soul might be feeling chilled and frozen whenever something happens in our lives. Pets can be really helpful in building self-esteem, especially dogs or rare pets like birds or reptiles. Just imagine how our self-esteem increases when we are walking a big dog? We are also proud to handle and take care of pets which aren’t so common such as birds or tortoises. Those special skills help us to stand out from the crowd. If we have self-esteem, people cannot trample on our heart and soul because we know that we have a value and are not worthless. Having this self-esteem without relying on others or getting it from them gives an unsurmountable strength and has a healing power for our soul. A strong mental health is vital to have good emotions, feel happiness and be aligned and grounded in ourselves. One way to achieve this is the bond between us and our dogs. Daily walkies are the perfect time for quality playtime and a great way to escape from routine and boredom! This gives new experiences and brings new sights that stimulate both our brains – and creates excitement and beautiful lasting memories. Doing something different on each walk keeps that stimulation high and makes the daily walks even so much more interesting. Being outside in nature with our furry friends is so soothing for our soul as we can breathe anew. This healing effect brings a deep relaxation and helps us to remain grounded. We can escape the vicious circle of negativity through our pets and learn from them to better our lives. Once we are able to love ourselves again, we will embark on a new exciting journey of our lives and find fulfillment on the path that is destined for us. We just have to trust our instinct and follow our destiny – for joy, happiness and love! References: Your Pet, Your Pill®. 101 Inspirational Stories About How Pets Lead You to a Happy, Healthy and Successful Life by Dr. Margit Gabriele Muller https://www.margitmuller.com