Spread Your Wings

One of my clients shared an update with me about how things were going since we last worked together about a year ago.

Tammy loves to paint, but she lost interest after her dad died several years ago.

She felt broken and overwhelmed by the loss of her father.

Grief washed over her, at times paralyzing her.

After her dad passed away, she adopted a couple of German Shepherds

Tammy had German Shepherds growing up and loved them, but these two didn’t get a long and on top of Tammy’s grief, she also felt guilt and shame for her dogs not being the best of friends.

She read all the books, was in all the FB groups and spoke with professionals (some she learned didn’t align with her values and was led astray in how to teach them)

Things were getting progressively worse in her home. Tammy was afraid of her dogs, afraid of what could happen if she forgot to put up a baby gate or confused the rotation in the home.

So much stress and worry.

Also, Tammy lost trust in herself.

But, she held on to the hope she had burning inside of her.

When we worked together, Tammy was reminded about her own feelings and when she takes care of herself, she can take care of her dogs with more ease and freedom.

Tammy experienced another painful heartbreak of one of her dogs, Sam not doing well and Sam needed to be put down. Tammy found herself in a dark place again.

Tammy felt like she failed Sam and her heart shattered.

After a few long, dark months, but Tammy tapped into hope and she was able to recall the tools we worked on together. Tammy began “thinking again about how to visualize good places, where I could see myself and what I wanted, and what I could see the dogs doing and how to get myself there.”

Tammy has made daily choices to get herself there.

Tammy reports, her other dog Roy is doing much better. Roy now loves to play and takes voluntary naps (this is a huge win) and goes into his enrichment space on his own which is another milestone. Being a 125lbs German Shephered, Tammy was always looking for Roy to make the choice!

Tammy shared, “I really couldn’t have gotten here had you not given me hope. Looking back and seeing how really, really bad things were, makes me realize how fortunate I was to find you. I found the wind in the trees again. I found the joy.”

Tammy is also back to painting and she is inspired by Jonathan Livingston Seagull and shared this, “Look with your understanding, find out what you already know, and you’ll see the way to fly”.

You have everything you need already inside of you, are you ready to listen?