An Unexpected Gift

Day 118

“Every positive thing in your life represents a single unique blessing. Every negative thing in your life has the opportunity to become a double blessing. For when you turn a negative into a positive, you gain twice. You are no longer burdened with the negative situation, and in addition to that you are strengthened by a new positive force.”

– Unknown

As I’m sure you know by now, I experience synchronicities in my life all the time. It’s pretty common for me to attract information and experiences related to what I write about. Yesterday, I wrote a post titled Kittens, Cuddles & Ears. Today, I came across a story about a cat, although unlike my cuddly story, this one sent shivers through my spine.

If you don’t already know, I’m an animal lover, and I have a cat that I love to no end. I grew up in a home where we didn’t even kill insects, we caught them and put them out to be in nature.

It’s funny, again, the synchronicity. I had a random conversation with my mom yesterday about a mouse I had seen in a glue trap when I was about 13 years old. It was still alive when I came upon the trap, and I still remember the little thing looking up at me, pleading for help. There was nothing I could do at that point, but I cried for that little mouse, and I’ve never forgotten that experience. It made me cry again as I told my mom the story. My mom shared a similar story with me of a time when my dad found a huge mouse in the house several years ago. His natural instinct was to lure it into a box, and once it was in the box, he drove out to a lovely open field about 20 minutes away at 1 am to let the mouse out to freedom.

The story I came across today wasn’t such a pleasant one. Kristen Lindsey, a veterinarian, killed a cat with a bow and arrow last year because she thought it was a feral and in her mind, that somehow gave her a license to kill. As if that wasn’t horrific enough, she then posted a gruesome picture of it on Facebook with a caption that read “My first bow kill LOL. The only good feral tomcat is one with an arrow through its head! Vet of the year award…gladly accepted.”

She is a vet. She is human. Although I use those terms loosely.

What. The. Fuck.

I was completely enraged as I read about this heartless, despicable act. I had no intention of blogging about it, and then I thought – I’ve made a commitment to being positive, and to find the good in everything. I’d be hypocritical if I didn’t face this head on and practice what I preach.

Try to find some good in this Rajni.

I’ll try not to be too facetious, and truly find some good in this. Here goes…Last year after the incident occurred, the Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners revoked her license. That’s a good thing. Lindsey exercised her right to have a full administrative hearing, and therefore retained her license to practice veterinary medicine in Texas until a final decision is made at the hearing. That hearing began a couple of days ago, and although it is not concluded, reports look promising that the board’s decision will be upheld. That’s a good thing.

Ok, so that isn’t exactly the type of positivity I preach. I’ll try again. Lindsey’s actions brought awareness to an issue that many animal activists are passionate about. There are lots of ferals out there, and this case brings attention to the plight of those poor homeless cats. Maybe it will inspire more people to volunteer in feral colonies or make people more diligent about having their pets neutered or spade. Maybe it will pull at the heartstrings of people who have thought about getting a rescue, but just haven’t acted on it. Maybe this story will make them run to a shelter and adopt a little kitten. Maybe pet parents will pay some extra attention to their fur babies tonight, and shower them with some additional love. Maybe this post will encourage one of you to adopt a rescue.

Dig deeper Rajni. What does this have to do with you?

Everything we attract into our experience shows up to bring awareness to something that’s going on inside, so that we can release it.

Lindsey’s story showed up in my experience simply to bring awareness to something that’s going on inside of me. OMG. As I wrote that sentence, a light switch turned on in my head. I know why this story came into my experience today. It showed up because I needed to feel this thought; I needed to feel that my experiences are about me, and not just know it intellectually.

For the last few days, some old experiences have come up, and brought feelings to the surface that I need to release. I had a conversation with a friend earlier about what I was feeling, and he reminded me that my feelings were surfacing so that I could release them. During our conversation, I understood the idea intellectually, and I’ve written about it several times before, but I wasn’t at the point where I felt it for this particular experience. Writing this post made me feel it.

Writing is often a cathartic healing process for me, and that’s exactly what just happened. I was able to release my emotions about something totally unrelated to Lindsey’s case that came to the surface before I found this story, it’s the reason I attracted this story – because writing about it was the catalyst to release what I’d been holding on to. I am no longer burdened with the negative emotions, and I feel a renewed sense of freedom.

Divine Timing.

Universe, you are truly amazing! I am constantly humbled by your magnificence, and equally full of gratitude for your gentle perfection.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!