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When You Are a Fur Parent, It’s a Lifetime Contract That You Sign

You might be suffering physically. It wouldn’t matter whenever your child’s life is endangered.

I went back home at 11 pm. The night before, I headed to the beach for a walk — or that’s what I thought was the plan. I met a doggies’ tribe resting on the sand. They welcomed me enthusiastically, and I felt sad I had no food for them.

So, yesterday I showed up in the morning and found only two out of eight: a female adult and a five-month puppy roughly. I had to visit again in the evening for the rest of them. They were still missing.

A random worker on the beach provided me with another possible chill-out area. It turned out that it was a park filled with abandoned and/or stray cats and kittens. Some girls aged between six and ten years old, more or less, spot me. They were kind enough and excited to help me feed all the hungry mouths. Also, we spent some time looking for the doggies as well without much success. Only one dog kept following us even after feeling full.

The heartwarming part about this episode is that one of the girls admitted she had always been afraid of dogs, but after witnessing how gentle our friend was when treated kindly, a shift instantly took place!

How fabulous is this? It was a magical moment, by all means!

When I was back in my neighborhood, I checked in on the kitties living outside. Then, I ate some fruits, and I slept at midnight at least, most probably.

I woke up again at 2 am when my indoor kids got agitated. It happens every night. I let them go outside and woke one more time at 6 am to bring them home and feed my parking lot and outdoor kids.

When I tried to get ready for my day, I felt so much dizziness I could barely stand up. My body collapsed. I am still not sure about the root cause. It seems to me it could be anything from:

  • My unhealthy sleep patterns: have been lasting for quite a long period.
  • Too much exposure to screens.
  • Covid: I also have diarrhea, and I read somewhere dizziness could be another rare symptom. It is all I noticed.

Consequently, I decided I would have some forced rest.

The following night

Some stray dogs are barking hysterically. It is not a rare event. When I permit my indoor furs to go outside during the night, I take some food with me for the starving dogs. I am doing my best to ignore the barking, and it is too hard since my sleep is not deep anymore — which is required to rejuvenate my vessel. I take a look from my bedroom window to check what is happening. To my surprise, I see my baby Mimi running from a new dog and climbing a tree as fast as possible. I run in their direction and try to convince Mimi to get down from the tree, but she doesn’t. She is terrified. Still, affectionate. She caresses my hand as if she is saying:

Thank you, Momma, for coming to my rescue! I know how tired you are and troublesome I can be, but you never give up on me! I love you!

I get the new doggies terrorists — two of them— to leave the neighborhood. My baby girl is safe in the car. I stop by my outdoor kitties’ corner. They have also been terrorized, apparently. Among them is a new senior cat struggling with a shoulder who joined the group a few weeks ago. When seeing the car, they get out of their hiding spots. I reassure them and provide some food and much love before going back home.

Last words

I still don’t know how I managed my dizziness. All I know is that I had no choice. My heart was my guide, in all likelihood. Even though I know how smart and capable my Mimi who lived with me in the forest is, whenever I am a witness to the slightest danger, it is a no-brainer to take action no matter my physical state.

No one said being responsible for other beings was an easy choice requiring no compromises. I knew what I was embarking on.

For those of you who raise kitties, I would love to get some piece of advice about how to deal with their circadian rhythm. Needless to mention that I care about their well-being and don’t want them to feel stressed out!

Myriam Ben Salem
Myriam Ben Salemhttps://unleashgreatness.blogspot.com/
I am deeply passionate about everything life has to offer. Writing has been my very favorite means to educate my audience, captivate their attention, talk to their emotions, and make them relate and take action. I have been honored by working as a columnist for BIZCATALYST 360°, an Award-Winning life, culture, and biz new media digest, serving as the global hub for enhanced performance and well-being, during 2020. Also, I am a contributing author in Mayhem to Miracles: True Stories of Courage, Triumph, and Peace. I am so in love with writing that I have a peaceful smile drawn on my face whenever I start visualizing the books I will be writing for whoever will be tempted to discover an inclusive philosophy breaking with all the stigmas! I was born in Tunisia, a small country in North Africa. I did pretty much everything earlier than the average: walking, talking, singing, dancing. Promoted throughout my entire education, I was also the leader of every end-of-year party. At some point, after working several years for multinational companies as an engineer, team leader, project coordinator, and product owner while always being a top performer, I figured out I was feeling miserable despite the 'perfect external image'. That marked the starting point of an existential crisis followed by an episode that triggered my re-birth and the beginning of the most rewarding adventure of my whole existence: re-writing my subconscious program and reconnecting with my true self. I was saved at the last moment through an out-of-body experience making me see all the lies, realize this gigantic Universe was not revolving around me. Most importantly, I was able to visualize I was here to leave a legacy like all of you, no matter how big or small! The butterfly took time to emerge though. Today, I identify myself as a Universal Citizen. Like-minded and light-hearted people are what I call home. I am deeply passionate about everything life has to offer, and was granted the edutainer qualifier: a combination between education and entertainment! I educate on the importance of healing unsuspected traumas, seeing our limiting beliefs and biases with honest lenses, finding one's purpose and a principled mission that goes beyond the self, and unleashing the hidden potential so that to leave our legacy for the generations unborn. I have been using a panoply of means that could vary from explicit ones such as mentorship, speaking, and writing, a skill that emerged naturally during my self-actualization process to implicit mediums like storytelling, how I daily show up in the world and model servant leadership! Writing is my very favorite and most preferred tool deployed for my mission. The topics I explore are in the nexus of stoic philosophy, psychology, neuroplasticity, epigenetics, and pretty much any topic involving human behavior. Common denominator? The quality of the subconscious program. You may have a look at some of my works published on my website; Set Yourself Free.

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