I’m having a weird dog week. As a psychotherapist I work with people who are having issues with specific things in their life. Yet I’m at a total loss now that my beloved dog is having a fear issue. She must have slipped on the icy stairs leading down to the back yard and now she’s afraid to go up and down those stairs.
So I made her go down the stairs and after she did her business she just stood at the stairs (only 4 steps) and stared at me with those doe caught in the headlight eyes. Hmmm…ok I can handle that. I went to the cupboard got her favorite treat and stood at the top of the stairs. No dice she didn’t budge. Now I know it has to be the ice because she’s bounding up and down the stairs in the house without a blink. So I tore off a piece of her cookie and tossed it to her. Yes she ate it up just about smacking her lips – she still didn’t budge up the stairs. So I gave in and went down and lifted her to the middle step. With me in back of her she bounded up. She knows mom has her back.
While I still don’t know exactly how I’m going to deal with her I am wondering if my dog is being a mirror for me. I can’t look at her without pondering on my own fears and if I am letting anything paralyze presently without realizing it. Though I haven’t completely clued in to it I do have a gut instinct that there is truth to that statement and I need to take a deeper look inside. I’m very grateful that I have my dog and all life around me to mirror me and help make me aware of myself. Sometimes as we go through the motions of life we are so focused on what we are doing outside of ourselves that we forget to stop and check in with our insides.
The Universe communicates to us in a myriad of ways. I think maybe I better go and say thank you by giving the pup another treat!
March 18, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Imagine if it was your child who did a number on the stairs. Would you tempt the child with a cookie to coax him/ her to do what you ask? What does it say about your inner child?
I do believe every thing we project is a mirror of some aspect of ourselves. This includes people, other creatures, objects and circumstances. I sense your gut is right on this. We only become aware of those things we are ready to accept about ourselves. That’s why we evolve in stages.