We all want to be loved. So we enter a relationship. We often feel let down. It does not feel conditional, the way our grandparents treated us as children. We miss it.
We sometimes received it from our parents as well. In any case, it seems to evaporated from the planet. Or has it? As we grew into adulthood, many of us noticed something was missing. We tried therapy. We tried spas and gyms. We tried dating and relationships.
Still, something didn't feel right. But something could have been and it is not too late to make it right. Owning and caring for a dog or cat is primary education for learning unconditional love. Sounds like the word of some "animal-cause" nut, but read on. We may train our dogs and cats, to do certain tricks (it impresses our friends), but have you considered what we learn from them? The story is so clearly told in "As Good As It Gets" with Jack Nicholson, a dried up writer with writer's block. He simply sits in a restaurant and complains to the waitress of whom he has a crush.
As fate has it, his neigbhor is mugged and stabbed and someone has to take care of his prissy dog. That neighbor is Jack Nicholson. I wouldn't have believed the story could happen until it happened to me, almost exactly two weeks after the movie was released. It has to be based on truth.
It is very honest. Pet care changes us by what we learn from the pet. Here is a silly far-out example, but, more often than not, we have our pets spayed or neutered, which is a smart thing, unless one breeds them. And yet dog remains man's best friend.
Can you imagine having the same procedure done to your own human best friend, and he or she come home and lick you in the face the next day wagging his/her tail and wanting nothing but your love or attention? I know that is a bit far-fetched, but it is a reality. A dog (and even a cat) loves you simply for being you. There is an old Irish prayer, "Lord, please make me half the man my dog thinks I am".
But oh, if only that were so. And if you think a dog or cat will love you unconditionally, you can take that a step further. Try adopting one from your local shelter. Cats and, it seems especially dogs, have a keen 6th sense and memory that is uncanny. They will appreciate you and show you a kind of love you'll never forget for the length of the pet's life.
My favorite stray dog Thor just died last month of heart disease. He was a mixed breed that I found in the woods in rural Ms. He looked a lot like Benji. That was 12 years ago. He lived, the vet believes, to be almost 22 years old.
Ironically, the first Benji, (there have been more) was found not far from where he showed up. After owning Thor a few years, I found people were much more pleasant to me. I thought it was because I had such a cute friendly people-loving dog.
Maybe that was a part of it, but the major part of it was Thor had taught me something I had never experienced before, unconditional love on steroids. That dog loved me no matter what. Thor became my baby and I dstill think of him often and grieve. I also remember the happy healthy times which were most of the time.
I fed him the b.a.r.f. diet only and plenty of herbal tinctures.
I will soon adopt or find another dog and know that I will experience this most unique phenomena that can be found nowhere else. What a blessing this is to anyone. Author Rick London is a cartoonist who created Londons Times Cartoons in 1997. He focuses a great deal of his work on animal-related cartoons, particularly dogs and cats and manufacturers funny gifts and collectibles with their images. One of his stores that features such dog and cat products as tshirts, casual wear, mouse pads, aprons, hoodies and more is the Rick London Wear online store full of funny dog and cat cartoon gifts and clothing.
A percentage of all sales benefit animal groups and causes.
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