This is Rafael. He is a sweet old dog we adopted last month.
A few weeks ago, he was abandoned in a shopping center in a nearby town, perhaps because he is old, mostly blind, and has cancer. We happened to be there, saw him at the information booth, and decided to adopt him if nobody came for him. The first few days after he came to us, he seemed sad and mostly rested.
And now, he is now doing much better. He has received successful treatments for cancer, he is happy to be with us and have a new home, and he has much more energy.
HAPPY BECAUSE HE DOESN’T HAVE THOUGHTS SAYING IT’S WRONG
One thing that’s very obvious is that even if he is mostly blind, he is still very happy and friendly. And he is very excited to go for walks, even if he bumps into things occasionally.
He is happy because he doesn’t know anything is wrong.
I shouldn’t be blind. I should see. I am worse off than others who can see.
He is incapable to have those thoughts. They don’t exist for him. So he is happy.
OUR OPTION: FIND WHAT’S HONESTLY MORE TRUE
We are capable to have those types of thoughts, and most of us do. So what can we do?
We cannot choose to not have them. But we can choose to investigate them thoroughly and sincerely and find what’s honestly more true for us. And here, there is a similar peace.
If we are incapable of having a stressful thought, it’s peace. If we are capable of having it, and do, and hold it as true, there is stress. And if we investigate and find what’s more true for us, there is again peace.
And for most of us, that investigation continues throughout our life. We have adopted a large number of stressful thoughts from our culture and society so new ones may crop up. And it does become easier over time. The weight of thoughts lightens, we become familiar with more categories and types of thoughts and recognize them when they come up, and we are more familiar with how to investigate the news ones that surface.
CLARITY OPENS FOR KIND ACTION
One of the stressful thoughts we may have adopted from society is:
If I am OK with what’s happening, I won’t do anything to change it.
If we pretend we are OK with what’s happening without actually being OK with it, then that may be the case. We may use ideologies and shoulds to pretend we are OK with something when we are not, and we may misguidedly go into inaction.
Clarity is different. In my experience, when I find more clarity, I am more at peace with what is, and I am more available for kind action. I am more receptive to what the situation calls for.
In this case, I am OK with Rafael having cancer and being blind. It’s how life plays itself out in that case. At the same time, I take him to treatment for cancer every week and follow the instructions from the veterinarian. And when that’s done, we’ll take him to an eye doctor to see what can be done for his eyes.
He is OK with being blind. We are OK with him being blind. And wouldn’t it be amazing if he could see again?
INITIAL NOTES
- he doesn’t know it’s not supposed to be that way
- adopted an old, blind dog w. cancer who had been abandoned
- even if 90-95% blind, happy, excited about walks etc.
- he doesn’t know it’s not supposed to be that way
- he doesn’t have that thought to make him unhappy
- he doesn’t make himself unhappy with that thought since he doesn’t have it
- for him, it’s natural, it’s how it is, its free of drama, free of victim
- a good lesson for all of us
….
In a conversation with my partner about this, the obvious comment came up:
He doesn’t know it’s not supposed to be that way.
…..
INITIAL DRAFT
We adopted a sweet old dog recently.
He was abandoned in a shopping center in a nearby town, perhaps because he is old, mostly blind, and has cancer. The first few days after he came to us, he seemed sad and mostly rested.
And now, after some treatments for the cancer, he is now doing much better. Even if he is mostly blind, he is happy, friendly, and excited to go for walks.
He is happy because he doesn’t know it’s not supposed to be that way.
I shouldn’t be blind. I should see. I am worse off than others who can see.
He is incapable to have those thoughts. They don’t exist for him. So he is happy.
We are capable to have those types of thoughts, and most of us do. So what can we do?
We cannot chose to not have them. But we can choose to investigate them thoroughly and sincerely and find what’s honestly more true for us. And here, there is the same peace.
We can find the same type of peace as
……
HAPPY BECAUSE HE DOESN’T HAVE THOUGHTS SAYING IT’S WRONG
One thing that’s very obvious is that even if he is mostly blind, he is happy and he is excited to go for walks.
He is happy because he doesn’t know it’s not supposed to be that way.
I shouldn’t be blind. I should see. I am worse off than others who can see.
He is incapable to have those thoughts. They don’t exist for him. So he is happy.
…..
Note: When I wrote “he doesn’t know anything is wrong” it’s in the meaning of “he doesn’t have thoughts telling him it’s wrong”. In reality, nothing is wrong. It’s just life unfolding. It’s our thoughts telling us something is right or wrong, and we sometimes believe those thoughts and perceive and live as if right and wrong somehow are inherent in reality. When we investigate those thoughts, we may see that they are just that: thoughts. They are imaginations. Ideas of right and wrong are imaginations and don’t reflect anything inherent in reality.