Introducing Perseus Jackson (Percy)

When I was 9 years old, I witnessed a pet dog being hit with a metal chain for barking. I was horrified and could only hold back my tears. I was terrified that if I spoke up, the metal chains would be used on me too.  The poor dog was yelping and howling in pain! That incident has been etched in my memory. It has probably spurred me to do what I can for the injured and defenceless animals I meet.  I don't think there is any justification for abuse of any kind. Bad! (Wags finger)

Introducing Perseus Jackson!  (Percy)
Green-grey eyes, blackish-gray fur, too big eyes, a stump for a leg, half a paw,  now healing paw and a single good leg.  Meows too much. Lounges on the sofa while papa (my hubby) isn't around.
My little furry friend is back after a month's stay at the vet. My daughter has named him Percy Jackson, after a fictional character and the hero of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson & The Olympians series. My daughter is a huge, huge fan of Rick's books.
Daughter -Percabeth!! To all fangirls out there.

I am somewhat relieved that Percy is back with me. He brings joy into the house! At least the boarding and dressing charges have stopped running. Most importantly, I'm happy with the progress little Percy has made. We've managed to save his hind leg, hurray!!! His hind leg still requires a daily change of dressing as the tissues are still raw. It will probably take about another month to completely heal. Only a month! Is that not good news? (trumpets blow)

Throughout this period, I've been in constant communication with the vet and his staff. I'm a regular visitor there, imposing myself on the vet even on public holidays, entering through the back door. I tried to make it a point to hold little Percy and put him on my lap for 10 to 15 minutes each time. I believe animals need to feel loved and cared for, just like we do. More so, a stray kitten.

Since he has only a stump and barely a paw for his front legs, he cannot be let out into the streets anymore. He wouldn't be able to survive. For the time being, he's become a member of my family. He is a special, special little kitten. A gentle and loving soul, a strong spirit and a true survivor. The vet and staff have all commended him on his gentle temperament. My daughter, too has commented that his eyes are like huge orbs of light. He has our love already.

Hope

After I posted the story of the stray kitten I rescued, readers have asked me what my decision was. I didn't write about it because I wanted readers to think about what they would have decided if they were in my shoes. 

I can actually see why many people would have passed the kitten by, some not noticing its injuries, others thinking they could not help and yet others would have thought that it is too much trouble and smelly handling a stray. It's not surprising as even vets felt that there are too many strays around and putting another injured one down isn't a bad choice. We make our judgements and decisions based on our life experiences and our values. Sometimes we get hardened by the sheer number of suffering animals we see.

I took the kitten to a third vet at the suggestion of my friend. This vet was more positive and said that the kitten's hind leg would heal. Its front left paw had already dried and dropped off  and the other paw was also partially torn off. Without any hesitation, I made arrangements to leave the kitten there for treatment. As its condition is rather serious, I felt it would get the best care with the vet. Since then, I have visited the kitten almost daily except for the days I was away attending a course. My daughter waited patiently with me for our kitten's turn as the change of wound dressing was slotted toward the end of the day.

As the bone of its hind leg was exposed, it would take some time for the wound tissue to granulate. Tissue granulation is a process by which fibrous tissue rich with blood capillaries replaces blood clots formed at the site of a healing wound. Through this process, healthy and normal skin is able to replace skin that was damaged. The tissue that forms over a wound during this process is called granulation tissue. 

After the first week, the vet noted that a few more bones were dislocated and moving. He suggested a surgical procedure to insert metal stents to keep the bones from moving. Otherwise, healing would be very slow or granulation may not happen. It underwent an operation a week ago. Please send love and healing to this little stray kitten. It has undergone so much in its young life. 

This picture was taken when I first brought it back

Life and Hope

Last Saturday, as I was walking into a food court with my family for our evening meal, my daughter tugged my hand, "Mom, poor thing!" pointing in the direction of a little kitten. It was meowing very loudly. I noticed that one of its paws was twice the normal size. My daughter urged me to take it home but I told her to wait till after our dinner. "If it is still here then, we will consider" I said.

After dinner, it was still in the same spot meowing very loudly. My husband told me it was very badly injured. Its front paw was broken and dangling. To me then, there was no question. It needed medical care and without a second thought, we brought it home, in a big plastic bag.

The next day, we brought it to our usual vet. She appeared a bit taken aback at the condition of kitty. All three legs were injured. The hanging paw had dropped off by then. The bone on its hind leg was exposed. Even its tail was broken. She was deliberating what to do.  Her opinion was that though there is hope that the leg would heal, she could not be certain. Alot of time and cost would be involved. She said that if it were her, she would put kitty to sleep. 

With a heavy heart, I went home. I then checked out the funding available from animal  organisations. My friend who is an independent dog rescuer, suggested that I seek the opinions of other vets. The second vet I went to said there is a small chance of recovery but questioned whether I want to put in the time and money on that little hope. He suggested that I put the kitty to sleep. He asked me if I was willing to take care of a paralysed cat round the clock, if it did not work out.

I was very troubled that night.  I thought through the various reasons commonly given for euthanasia. In this case, we make the decision for the animal. Is animal life less precious and more dispensable than human life? Is it selfish to allow an animal to suffer a long and painful death? What possible reasons can justify such a decision? Is it to avoid creating bad karma for ourselves? Or is it that we do not want the suffering of having to take care of the animal?  Is it  just to reduce its suffering or my suffering? I think it is both. Is it really more compassionate to put an animal to sleep  to reduce its suffering? 

If it were you, would you choose to ignore the injured animal and leave it to die? Or would you take it home and put it to sleep? Would you take care of a paralysed cat, feeding it, cleaning its poo and pee, blow drying its backside for its entire life? Which would you choose?

Principles and ideals are all very good, till it happens to us. It is then, that we take a long, hard look at ourselves and what our values really stand for, especially when things become an inconvenience for us.

Are Your Thoughts You?

It has been awhile since I last posted on this blog. I have been busy, exploring and seeking to understand my world and myself. Unlike some of my spiritual friends, I am still searching. I have often wondered too, whether blogging is a bit of an egoistic activity. Does putting down my thoughts about life and posting it  reek of  self-importance?

Thoughts lead to feelings, feelings to actions and actions create our life experiences.  We attach so much meaning and importance to our thoughts. We believe and trust our thoughts implicitly, without question. We allow our thoughts to define us and who we are. We also allow those thoughts to dictate our lives.

What we think of, and how we think has so much impact on our happiness. It really isn't the things around us that stresses us. It is our thoughts about those things that stresses us. We get so caught up in the stories which we tell ourselves and then, feeling all the emotions that come up with it. Thus, engaging in those thoughts with will affect us one way or another.

We listen to horror stories in our heads. We tell ourselves the same old story again and again and playing the same record for years. If you were rejected as a child, the painful experience could have left you with a fear of rejection. Look closely and see if you have been replaying and literally hypnotising yourself with fearful thoughts of rejection since then? The point of it is that those thoughts are not real. But when we engage with it, those thoughts produce emotions and we act on those emotions. We then make it real.

It is not just about thinking positive. We try to think positively for a day or two or even three. Then, we fall back into our old ways. The thing is to allow those thoughts to clear. Watch those thoughts pass away and not react to them. Sounds easy? Try practising for 5 minutes daily, just watching your thoughts pass by and take notice. Learn about your self and what you actually think about when you are not looking!  Are we really who we think we are, in our heads or are we much more?

The Log in Your Eye

I celebrated my birthday this week. It was a day of many lessons. I had an appointment that morning but because of a wrong left turn, I ended up missing my appointment. Instead I spent the next two hours driving along unfamiliar roads. I was relieved when I finally made it back to my sanctuary, my home.

That evening, when I picked my daughter from school, I was greeted by a tearful girl. My daughter had signed up for a culinary arts competition in school with her best friend. Due to circumstances which could not be worked out, both parties agreed to drop out of the competition.  However, both parties were terribly disappointed and as a result. started to blame one another. It was not healthy but not unexpected. Their friendship has been affected. I felt that they had to learn to cope with their disappointment and learn from this incident. However, what was totally unexpected was that  a mother had  joined the blame game.

I was shocked at the turn of events. As a parent, we act as  guides and advisors  for our children, We are there to lend support and provide resources for them to bloom to their full potential, During the school going years, they will meet many new friends who will go in and out of their lives. Some of the best friendships are made in school but not all friendships will last. Friends too will have their disagreements. It is all a part of growing up and learning how to relate with one another.

Therefore, I was dismayed that a parent had jumped right into the fray to say some very disparaging things about both my daughter and myself. Those scathing and hurtful words, as expected, came back to my daughter's ears and I could see that she was deeply hurt. As parents, we have to remember too, to keep within our boundaries. We have to respect our children and other children's decisions and privacy too.. Before interfering in our children's relationships, ask first what our true intentions are. Will our actions benefit our children? Or will our need to justify, blame and be "right" cause more problems for those we profess to love?  How can blaming others possibly bring about more peace and harmony in everyone's lives?.

Words, words, words. We use them so loosely but forget that they are as sharp as knives. If you can see psychically the impact of words on the aura of a person, you can actually see people sending daggers or knives to one another. They cut and hurt deeply.

I regret how juvenile we adults can become. As adults, we are role models to all children, whether or not they are our own. It also matters not how many times one professes to be "religious". The real test is in the way one carries oneself and the words that comes out of one's mouth. To quote a Bible verse "a good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of". "First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye".

Mind over Healing

I shall share what I learned from listening to David Hamilton, Ph.D this week. He is the best selling author of the book, "How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body." He leads workshops to help people understand the link between their minds, their health and their lives. The power of the mind and positive thinking can actually bring about physiological changes in the body, through visualization, belief, and affirmations to heal. How do thoughts and visualisation affect the neurosystem and our brain?

As we imagine something over and over again, we start to cause changes to the physical structure of the brain. In a research, volunteers were asked to play a simple combination of notes on the piano with all five fingers daily for 2 hours. Their brains were scanned daily and scientists found that the area of the brain connected to the finger muscles had grown in size. The brain actually generated  hundreds of neurons. but not only that, genes were being turned on and started changing.  To study the effects of visualisation, another group was asked to visualise that they were playing the piano notes for 2 hours daily. At the end of  5 days, a brain scan showed that the brain had changed in identical ways. In many ways, the brain does not distinguish whether something is really happening or it is just an imagination.

He believes that the power of visualisation can be used to heal, provided that it is done properly. An example is the visualisation of tumours shrinking. However, it has to be visualised in great detail, thus taking time and must be done consistently everyday.

In another study, 150 married couples were asked to talk about a topic of their choice for 15 minutes  From their interaction, couples were grouped into those who were hostile, aggresive and those who were more compassionate to one another. What they found was that the hostile group had more cases of heart disease whilst the other compassionate group had healthy arteries. The difference was the way they treated each other. He said that hundreds of genes are turned on by the way we treat people.

When two people are interacting, their emotions and body language has an effect on each other. The phrase “emotional contagion” embodies the idea that humans will synchronize their personal emotions with the emotions expressed by those around them, whether consciously or unconsciously, and thus that an emotion conveyed by one person will become “contagious” to others. In the presence of a happy person, others around them become happier. This unfortunately applies to negative emotions as well. Gentleness and compassion can protect ourselves.

It is indeed true that the people we spend our time with are very important. They not only have great influence on our thoughts. They also have great impact on our health.

Dying to Be Me

 

I have been spending  some time listening to many world-renowned experts from the personal growth field sharing the practical, applicable ways in which they incorporate their teachings in their own lives. Topics range from health, diets, womanhood, happiness and success, the spiritual realm, past lives and so on..  I shall write on some of these speakers whose work have benefited millions of people. 

One such speaker whom I find so very inspiring  is Anita Moorjani. Her story is not new to many. Anita was diagnosed with end stage cancer (Hodgkin's Lymphoma) in April 2002.  On 2 February 2006, she fell into a coma. Her body was ravaged with cancer when she arrived at the hospital. Doctors said that her organs were shutting down and gave her hours to live. However, she went through a NDE or near death experience but made a choice to  come back.I chose to come back into physical when I understood that ‘heaven’ is a state, not a place.Anita Moorjani

She is now a famous speaker and author of the best seller, "Dying To Be Me." She has been sharing her fascinating life story and the many insights she gained when she went to the other realm.  "I realized what a gift life was, and that I was surrounded by loving spiritual beings, who were always around me even when I did not know it. I understand how illnesses start on an energetic level before they become physical. I then understood that when people have medical treatments for illnesses, it rids the illness only from their body but not from their energy so the illness returns. Everything going on in our lives was dependant on this energy around us, created by us. Nothing was real – we created our surroundings, our conditions, etc. depending where this “energy” was at."

"After what I have seen, I realize that absolutely anything is possible, and that we did not come here to suffer. Life is supposed to be great, and we are very, very loved. The way I look at life has changed dramatically, and I am so glad to have been given a second chance to experience “heaven on earth. Miracles are possible in your life every day."

What was her most meaningful lesson? "The most meaningful lesson I learned from being at death’s door is that unless I love myself, nothing else in my life can function at its best. The amount of depth, meaning, and joy I experience in my life is in direct proportion to how much love I have for myself. The amount of love, kindness, patience I have for others is also directly proportional to how much love, patience and kindness I have for myself, because we cannot give others what we ourselves do not have."

I resonate so much with what she said. That life is indeed a gift.  We create so much of our own unhappiness due to a lack of love. And it starts from a  lack of love for ourselves. If we do not know how to love and honour ourselves, how then can we genuinely love and honour others?.

We sometimes confuse narcissism with self-love so we hold ourselves at arms length. There is a big difference between the two. The energy of narcissim is one of fear. It is closed and contracting, wanting to keep everything for ourselves. It is about "me, me and me."  Self love is expansive, open and inclusive of others.  That is the energy of love. It is like a cup of love which overflows.

We are meant to be amazing, magnificent, loving beings but we have forgotten who we are. However, we do not necessarily need to go through a near death experience to realise that. The love is right there in our hearts already. We just need to open our hearts and tap into it.