Want to start doing those things you know you need but don’t make a priority? Willingness and growth will turn that all around!
Willingness and growth are hand in hand besties. They support each other so beautifully, but only if they come in that order. Willingness opens up pathways to graceful growth. Maybe not completely comfortable, but not awful. If you get it the other way around, and dig your toes in until growth simply explodes into your life (often in the shape of illness, injury, or some kind of disaster), then it gets awfully hard to have any degree of willingness.
Why? because when willingness and growth were left behind, when you never made them a priority, things tend to build up until they explode, and you are being dragged backwards through the thorny hedges of forced growth. This is extremely uncomfortable, and it becomes well nigh impossible to implement willingness.
Same thing happens with your pets, by the way. Of course you want well behaved, calm, teachable, and healthy pets. But a lot of the time, people I see would never ask their pets to do the least little thing that they don’t like. The simple truth is that all pets need a dose of ‘healthy yes’ and ‘healthy no’ at least now and then.
However, your pets won’t like that- and if you never practice it with your pets, you’ll never increase their capacity for willingness when it’s really important, when something is going down that involves safety or illness, and then your pets just jack up and refuse to play.
Willingness and growth. You have to develop your ‘willingness’ muscle, by gradually doing things that you know are good for you, but involve some level of healthy discomfort. The more you do this, the easier it becomes, and the more graceful growth becomes in your life. The good news is that it’ll accelerate healthy growth for you in a very beautiful way too.
How to support healthy willingness and growth for and with your pets
First step is this – start with yourself. Create and maintain a strong growth mindset. Keep on exercising willingness in the face of any healthy discomfort that this causes. Only then can you meet your pets in a truly healthy way. With your pets, you have to inspire them to willingness. This will most likely take time, kindness, flexibility, and ingenuity from your end of the leash. And most of all, being more determined than your pets.
Fasting one day a week is fantastic for your pet’s health, and increases their life span. But when you start actually doing it, your dogs will be telling you to stuff your willingness and growth right up your jumper! There’ll be sad eyes, moaning, complaining, and every doggy trick they can think of to manipulate you into giving them some food.
This means that YOU will need willingness to say that ‘healthy no’ to your pets, and not crumble. To do so, you’ll need to grow greater determination, emotional resilience, and presence. Everyone wins!
Yes, the whole family, pets and humans, always win when there are healthy doses of willingness and growth on the table. Yes, it’s simple. And yes, it’s definitely not easy, especially at first, but it does get a whole lot easier the more you do it. So come on, give it a go! You pets will thank you (eventually).
Want more? Check out our most recent of this series of articles at this link.
And here’s where you can click through to watch this week’s video where I talk live about these themes from a bit of a different angle.
If you want an online or in-person consultation with me, go to www.thehealingvet.com and book a free discovery call with me! We also offer a stack of awesome online training programs that empower you to find and heal your pet’s Silent Pain.
Pic of Gem, all curled up in a tangle of elbows.
