I'm imagining a poor sweet doggo, who's been abused. 😭

The essence of a dog is love. Right? Right.

The essence wants to delight in life and wag and lick and lean against your leg while gazing up at you lovingly...but the wounds need protecting.

The wounds find doggo backed into a cage, snarling.

They make bites and growls and warnings.

They extend the boundaries, past where anyone can penetrate, almost beyond the reach of love.

But patience, trust, and love still win in time, if the will is there.

*

You are no different than this poor sweet vicious doggo. You're protecting yourself, your territory, your loved ones. Your needs for safety and connection.

You may have developed some ways to do that which actually keep you out of connection, trapped in maladaptive patterns of self-protection that are no longer necessary.

In learning new ways, you will sometimes revert to old ways. Old ways will feel comfortable, natural, familiar. You will distrust new ways, and sometimes you will want to cling to what's made you "feel better" in the past.

This is normal. It's healthy and normal to want to feel protected and safe.

You are learning to serve your connected SELF — Love, The Divine, Spirit, whatever — instead of your fears and limitations.

Be patient and loving with yourself, as you would an abused doggo, or your own inner child. We are all still children inside.

❤️
- S