When we suffer what we perceive as loss or defeat, we can abandon hope and retreat from the world. Yes, it stings. But for some, the loss feels insurmountable, plummeting them into long term despair, an understandable, permssible human response after a loved one's death, a breakup, unemployment, homelessness. In fact, not sinking into grief would make us appear suspect. But outside of those severe circumstances, how often do we prolong grief over self-inflicted rather than external losssuch as failed expectations and unmet goals? We hang our hopes on particular desires, forgetting our flexibility and capacity for change, and subconsiously choose disappointment after unrealized outcomes. Then we mourn, convincing ourselves that all is lost , and wander through distorted emotional landscape. Here's the truth: no thing is ever lost. We get lost as we muddle throu...
Enlightenment from Our Animal Companions by Lisa Shaw, Animal Intuitive, R.M.