Animals and love
All that matters is that we change for the better.
I don't know if I have ever felt love more constantly, continuously and fully, than around animals. And I don't think it's just that animals don't condition their feelings on our behavior or their own thoughts, whatever. It has to be more than that, because I work for them, I dedicate time to them, but it doesn't tire me. They have an extra energy tank for us too! I don't keep them so that they can give me something, but so that I can give them. I want them to be happy, I am interested in their well-being, just as I am interested in the well-being of my children. Some people are bothered by this comparison, I am not. The good of the children requires much more effort on my part, of course, on several levels, as well as their personal effort. Animals need little, but they need constantly, they are totally dependent on us. Their cuteness is like that of children, as if God left them like that to teach us to love. I don't think it's possible to love people but not be able to love animals. But if you learn to love animals, which is very easy, the easiest, then you can go to the next level. I say it's next level because people have multiple behaviors that hurt other people. A man can betray you, hurt you, lie to you, suffocate you, humiliate you. Your pet can at most gnaw your sofa or your favorite slippers. That's why a commitment to a human involves more risks than a commitment to an animal, it requires more courage.
The best therapy for being a more loving being is caring for an animal. Again, I will have to remind you that I believe that loving means caring for someone and being happy to do so. So it's easy to love a beautiful and cuddly being who needs you, who enjoys every bit of attention you give him, who only has eyes for you. That's why I say it's easy to love an animal. It's also easier to get bored, of course, you can't argue with animals, you can't even debate some ideas. Yes, it's hard, it's harder with an animal.There are many "people only" people who have pets. On the one hand this is sad, on the other hand it is gratifying. You're never completely alone, and when you have a pet, you really can't say you're alone. You are "lonely of people". In such a case, however, you take the decision to adopt more easily, because you really need a soul by your side. It is harder to care for a being who is ungrateful or who does not seem to enjoy being around you. It is more difficult, but towards people we have a kind of duty, we feel a responsibility. With animals it seems to be more of a personal choice, because no one and nothing, neither family, nor society, nor religion pressures or forces you to adopt an animal. For us, social life is related to people, to communities, we were not educated for a constant relationship with animals. Animal lovers and especially animal rescuers are seen as lunatics in our society. Who has time and energy for that?! Yes, it's hard, it's harder to do things that you are not obliged (and not necessarily appreciated) to do.
One day I was reading a lady's comment on an ad with a kitten offered for adoption. The lady was of the opinion that there should be a law that obliges every family with a certain income to adopt a pet, and if they refuse, then periodically pay a sum of money to help other people do it. Of course, such a thing is not possible, but it would be very nice if the level of consciousness of mankind was so high that caring for animals would be considered a basic moral norm and would be regulated on such a clear level. The lady's words remained in my heart. I'm not ashamed to fill the shopping cart with pet food, I'm not ashamed to share or redistribute ads with animals that are lost or offered for adoption. I'm not ashamed to be seen struggling to keep a whole family of puppies on a leash. I am not ashamed that I always have animal hair in my house or on my clothes. But I am very ashamed when I see someone attacking an animal or a human being, when I see the division, hatred and limited and borrowed thinking of people related to current topics of interest. I feel ashamed when people spend a lot of money on all kinds of things that do not enrich their heart with anything, but pretend that they do not have enough resources to help some beings. They probably think more in terms of "getting" and feel like they're missing something if they give, or think that "having" only refers to material resources, not love. I am ashamed of myself, not only of others, I am not perfect. Sometimes I get too angry about things I can't change, sometimes I speak my mind too strongly. Sometimes I am too lazy and too distrustful, I have many weaknesses. Responsibility towards others, people and animals, however, disciplines me, gathers me, completes me. And it makes me happy. I do not know that there is another self or sense of self, although for many years I have searched for such a thing. We really have nothing and nothing remains with us and from us except goodness from the soul, that is, our power to take care of others and be happy with it. But the power to love comes from practice, from practice, from multiplication, it is not a state or a thought. The presence of animals in our lives, with everything we have to do for them constantly, with their cuteness and attention directed towards us, helps us enormously to be better. I recently heard a priest say that animals do not have a soul, they only have "a breath". Ah, if only we had this breath! In the words of an exhortation I recently read and shared on Facebook, "Be the person your dog thinks you are!"