I was grocery shopping when I heard the news about the tragic bombing in Boston at today’s marathon.

In addition to sending prayers and heartfelt condolences to the victims and their families, I wanted to offer you some guidance in case it also touched your heart with sadness.

My friend Marisa just reminded me of a favorite quote by Henry David Thoreau:

“One is not born into the world to do everything but to do something.”

This echoes a core belief I hope we share:

We’re not here on this Earth to tackle every challenge.  We’re not meant to overcome every obstacle.  We’re here to do one thing.  That ONE thing is something that only we can do.

I’m a firm believer that if more people had the courage to listen to their heart and follow their love; if they gave themselves permission to heal and forgive those who have hurt them in the past; and, if they had the courage to fulfill their purpose to help make the world a better place…

If you just take care to do that one thing, then our world would be a more peaceful, safe and joyous place, for us and our animals.

Hope you feel the same way…

If you do, please leave a comment or offer your support below.

Be safe and know you are loved,

Val

Dedicated to changing the world one animal lover at a time…

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Recently I was diagnosed with adult onset diabetes with a heart complication.  My alternative doctor wanted me to change my diet and try to manage/reverse the condition that way.  So I tried the Paleo diet but after a week, it was clear that it really wasn’t the right approach for me.

A friend told me about JJ Virgin and sent me her newest book, The Virgin Diet.  As soon as I read the cover and JJ’s theory and approach, I was hooked.

It just made so much sense to me!  She recommends eliminating the 7 high inflammatory foods out of our diet for 21 days to give us time to heal, repair and rebalance.

Inflammation is the underlying cause of most all our ailments, diseases, aches and pains.  And most of our inflammation is started in our gut and digestive track.

Then, after the elimination period, we reintroduce them one food category at a time one per week to discover how our body reacts to them.  If they cause no symptoms, then yea!  We can eat that.  Our body tolerates it well.

If they DO cause a reaction (bloating, gas, painful joints, blood sugar spikes, headaches, etc), then our body is telling us in no uncertain terms that that it’s not okay with that food yet.  Remove it from your diet for another 3 – 6 months, then try it again.

The recipes are easy and delicious, I’m eating better than I have in a long time, most all my cravings for sweets have gone.

My chronic fatigue is improved.  My memory is sharper.  I feel stronger.  My vision is clearer.  My blood sugar is almost normal now.

AND, I’ve effortlessly dropped almost 15 pounds in only 5 weeks.  What’s not to like about this diet?

I highly recommend this book and JJ’s approach.  She’s awesome!  Check it out:

And let me know what you think.  Leave a comment below:

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If so, then the first question you need to ask yourself is this: How much do you love yourself on a scale of 1 – 10 (10 = 100%)?

The question may seem strange to you, but your answer is critical and reflects on how open your heart is to receive as well as give love in your life. If you don’t love yourself, how can others love you? If you don’t practice love, kindness, compassion on a daily basis, being gentle, supportive and powerful, then others can’t easily show up that way around you.

Remember the Law of Attraction?

If you aren’t resonating with love energy, then you don’t attract it to you either. Notice the quality of relationships you have in your life and see if they are what you really want, how they serve and support you, how much love is expressed and shared, how easy it is to share your true authentic self with each other.

If your relationships don’t bring you joy, more love (love shared is increased), and help you shine your blessings into the world, then something needs to change.  We only accept the love we think we deserve.

You can always ask for more love in your life. True love is what makes you brilliant, shiny, blessed, connected, inspired… It’s what makes your world and life make sense.

That’s my definition of a Soulmate, someone who inspires us to be better people.

Did you know that your animals can be your Soulmates too? Think of all the ways they inspire you, touch your heart, encourage you to grow, and all the remarkable ways they demonstrate their love.

Remember other species have voices, feelings, wisdom and divine Spirits just like we do – and they need us to be able to hear them, to honor and respect them, and to learn from them.

Much love to you and your furrkids,

Val

P.S. Oh! And Thank You SO much for your referrals! They are much appreciated…

“If you find yourself not honestly able to say, ‘I love where I am. I love who I’m with. I love what I’m doing,’ then something has to change. You have the power & freedom to make that change.”  Martin Brofman, Ph. D.

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Imagine my dismay when I came home after running errands to interrupt burglars attempting to break into my house!?!

My first hint something was wrong was the mess they left in the garage.  I felt compelled to clean that up, because there were broken bits of glass everywhere and I didn’t want Einstein to cut his feet.  At that point I thought someone had tried to break into the garage through the window but they couldn’t get in because I have it rigged.

Next, I entered the house through the garage and immediately noticed something odd about my security alarm.  It wasn’t working properly.  No siren, no signal, odd.  And Einstein was very upset.

Then, I saw the real damage.  One of my patio doors was busted bad but still hanging on by a thread and amazingly enough the deadbolt was still intact.  Wow. 

My other 2 doors also were damaged and my phones were out.  After calling 911, talking to the phone company, finding an emergency handyman to repair the damage, talking to my neighbor who heard noises, and of course, discussing it with Einstein, it dawned on me with a sense of awe that a major miracle had just occurred. 

In fact, many blessings and miracles!  Let me explain.

> I came home before they got into the house so nothing was stolen and Einstein was unharmed. 

> As I was compelled to clean up the garage, they had time to escape through the yard so there was no dreaded bad encounter.

> My neighbor kept getting distracted and neither she or her dogs come over to get caught in the middle of what could have been a   very dangerous situation.

> The damage was easily and inexpensively repaired, and the upside is my home is even more secure than before.

> Turns out the phone company disconnected my security service over a year ago due to inept technicians, but I didn’t know that.  Now that’s fixed and we’re back online.

> The phone company’s got some ‘splaining to do, and I may even get some free stuff out of it.

Want to know the biggest miracle of all? It’s a doozy.

Einstein has been sad, worried and moping around for weeks.  His appetite was off, and nothing I did was helping.  He didn’t seem to need a vet, but I’d about decided to take him in anyway because it was such a puzzle…

He’d come check on me frequently, gazing at me with those soulful, mournful big brown eyes.  When I’d ask him what was wrong, he told me he was worried about me.  Because I’d been sick with the flu, respiratory and the stomach bug that’s been going around, I thought that he was worried about my health, so I would tell him thanks for your concern but I’m feeling better now. 

But he was still sad, worried and depressed.  So the morning of the attempted B&E, I asked him again, Einstein, what are you so worried about? 

He replied, “What will happen if something bad happens to you?”

It took me aback.  I thought for a moment, and replied that if anything bad happened to me, then he would go live with his Aunt Lesley (who he loves) and her dog Milo, and that I would love him always.  And if I could recover, then he could come live with me again.

He said okay but wasn’t much relieved, was still tense and worried and I had to go. 

Well, when I again spoke with him AFTER the incident, his spirits were elevated for the first time in weeks.

So I asked him to tell me what happened.  He said he’d been having nightmares about something very bad happening to me at home from very bad people, and me getting hurt or worse, even killed.  He said he’d been praying for help, and dreading the day.

He’d foreseen that I would be home sleeping, and bad people would break in and hurt me.  In fact, that could very easily have been the case because while I was out running errands, all I wanted to do was go home and take a nap!  But I kept being guided to do just one more errand, and then just one more, and then the traffic was slow, and then, oh yes, just one more errand… the message was clearly “don’t go home yet”. 

If I’d been here, I would have been napping when they came and the side door would have been open most likely. 

Einstein’s prayer was heard, and the Universe redirected my path out of harm’s way.  And I’m awed and truly grateful.

Remember that your animal’s are wiser than you know, they care about you too, they are connected with Spirit, and some conversations with them will blow your mind.

Much love to you and your furry, hairy, scaly and feathered friends,

Val

“Believe it or not, if it weren’t for your so-called issues, problems, and challenges, there’d be no other way you could become even happier, cooler, and more enlightened than you have ever been before.”  Tallyho, The Universe  www.tut.com

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What a joy!  Sometimes turning the smallest hinge can open the BIGGEST doors in our lives.  Turning lives around quickly is my specialty, what I love doing the most.

Just this past week, I worked with a client who was so stressed out she could hardly hold it together and was ready to quit altogether… nothing was working for her.  Her finances were terrible, her cat just died, she got bad news about a lawsuit she was involved in, couldn’t get anyone to help her… her situation was dire indeed.

Yet, in just one hour, she made a HUGE shift – primarily due to this one critically important KEY to being happier, healthier and more successful.  She’s making new connections, is feeling enormously better, is Out Of The Box and making fantastic changes for herself.  She feels more empowered and is definitely happier.

Want to know what the Key is?

Simply put, it’s the importance and the magic of the He(ART) of Play.

It’s true for our animals too.  Did you know that every being on the planet plays?  Not just when they are little, but to stay healthy, sharp and balanced.   They continue to play all through their adult years until they are ready to pass on.  In fact, we often know when they are ill because their playful nature dies within them.

The tragedy is that too many of us die within before our time has come.  Why? Because we simply forgot to play.

One of the most important gifts animals give to US is that they invite us to play with them.  They demand it. They beg us for play time. They interupt our busy-ness, our seriousness, our fussyness, our obsessively stressful lives and invite us to drop our burdens and be silly, funny, lighthearted and joyful again.  To embrace the simple pleasures of life, to love ourselves and each other enough to let our guard down.  When we do, the burden of all our troubles is lifted for a time and we find ourselves again.

Every good relationship craves play, and healthy play together builds strong relationships.

On The Real Dr Doolittle Show this week, I interviewed the caretakers for The Gibbon Conservation Center.  Wow!  Did you know that the gibbons create duets and sing in chorus?  Amazing.  Their family groups are very similar to ours, their society is remarkable, and their lessons for us are profound.

If your animal has been begging you for play time, then make it a priority to accept their invitation.  It’s as much for YOUR health and well-being as it is for theirs.

How do you play?  What do you enjoy?  I want to know!  Let’s learn from each other.

Much love to you and your critters,

Val,  The Play Master

“A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.”  Diane Ackerman

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