{"id":7472,"date":"2012-08-21T12:36:52","date_gmt":"2012-08-21T12:36:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wendywolfe.wordpress.com\/?p=580"},"modified":"2012-08-21T12:36:52","modified_gmt":"2012-08-21T12:36:52","slug":"lessons-in-self-care-from-red-the-cat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wendywolfe.com\/?p=7472","title":{"rendered":"Lessons in Self Care from Red the Cat"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Red practicing self care<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This past week my cat Red showed me the essence of self care.\u00a0 You see Red was sick.\u00a0 At first I wasn\u2019t sure what was wrong with him.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t himself.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t running around catching mice or playing with the other cats.\u00a0 He was being very quiet.\u00a0 I kept a vigilant watch over him as he spent the entire day and night on a soft cushy spot in the barn.\u00a0 He stopped eating.\u00a0 I offered him some soft food and he took a few licks and left the rest.\u00a0 I used a syringe to get him to drink some water. \u00a0At that point I asked what was wrong and found out his mouth hurt.\u00a0 The next day I could see a large swelling in his mouth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the years I have found cats to be remarkable healers.\u00a0 Ten years ago I would have whisked him off to the vet at the first sign of something not quite right.\u00a0 Now, I could sense there was a problem but I could also sense he was doing what he needed to care for himself.\u00a0 With the new understanding that he had an abscess in his mouth I used some hydrosols and essential oils to help.\u00a0 But after another day of barely eating anything, I decided to call the vet.\u00a0 A cat not eating can lead to serious consequences quickly.\u00a0 Of course before we got to the vet, Red turned the healing corner.\u00a0 He began to eat a little more, the swelling went down and he was active enough to trek from the barn to the house.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Still concerned that there could be a serious issue with a tooth, I kept my appointment.\u00a0 The vet found what appeared to be a puncture hole in his gum. \u00a0She gave him a shot of antibiotics and felt he would do just fine.\u00a0 I\u2019m not a big fan of antibiotics as they are often over used but I sensed Red could use a little help this time.\u00a0 Red continued to lie around and gradually starting eating more and more.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Today, he left a gift in front of my office door; a little mouse to thank me for taking care of him.<\/p>\n

What I was reminded of with his sick spell was how well he took care of himself.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t try to do anything he didn\u2019t absolutely have to.\u00a0 He chose not to eat so that his body could focus on healing, not on digesting food.\u00a0 He slept, and slept and slept.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t worry that his mouse quota would not be met.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t worry that the other cats would be upset because he didn\u2019t play with them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t worry that I would think less of him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He just took care of himself.<\/p>\n

Now let\u2019s compare that to when we humans get sick.\u00a0 Maybe this will sound familiar to some of you.\u00a0 Years ago when I worked for a major advertising agency in Madison, coming to work sick was a badge of dedication.\u00a0 There was an unspoken rule that the more hours you put in, whether you were sick or not, the better employee you were (50-60 hours was not unusual).\u00a0 I never enjoyed others coming to work coughing and spewing germs around the office.\u00a0 I would have rather they stayed home and took care of themselves like Red.\u00a0 Needless to say, I didn\u2019t stay in the ad business long.\u00a0 It was not conducive to self care and I decided I deserved to be well cared for.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Self care isn\u2019t just for when we are ill.\u00a0 It really is a day-in day-out practice. For most of us it is a learned skill not something that comes naturally.\u00a0 It\u2019s something I teach my clients and these past few weeks have been especially chaotic for them.\u00a0 They are sensitive and empathic, like me.\u00a0 This means they feel <\/em>the energy from our mass consciousness.\u00a0 Think about this for a moment.\u00a0 We have an election around the corner and the air waves, radio waves, internet and papers are crammed with angry, fear-mongering, polarizing energy.\u00a0 There are civil wars occurring all over the planet.\u00a0 Disastrous weather events are decimating large areas of land, wildlife, people and homes.\u00a0 Frankly, the energy is depressing and bitter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And you can control how this affects you.\u00a0 You have choices.\u00a0 To start with, don\u2019t watch the news. There really isn\u2019t anything there that you must know about.\u00a0 Ask yourself, can you change any of the news stories?\u00a0 Nope.\u00a0 So why get upset about something you have no control over?\u00a0 It\u2019s just not good self care.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a better idea.\u00a0 One that is good for you.\u00a0 \u00a0Get a dose of positive news everyday.\u00a0 There is a great deal of loving, generous and uplifting events happening in this world too.\u00a0 Yes, it does exist.\u00a0 You just need to find it.\u00a0 Here are some online sources for good news.\u00a0 Sign up and see how your day changes when you focus on what is going right in the world.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0http:\/\/www.upreport.com<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 http:\/\/www.happynews.com<\/a> http:\/\/positivenewsus.org<\/a> \u00a0 http:\/\/www.dailygood.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Surround yourself with people that are uplifting and loving.\u00a0 If you need to be around others that are struggling, ground your energy before you engage with them.\u00a0 If you are sensitive and empathic and need guidance on how to master your energy and sensitivity, contact me.\u00a0 I can help.\u00a0 wendy@wendywolfe.com<\/a> or 715-824-2319.<\/p>\n

And if you find yourself sick, remember the lessons from Red.\u00a0 Sleep, sleep and sleep some more.<\/p>\n

Take care\u2026you deserve it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This past week my cat Red showed me the essence of self care.\u00a0 You see Red was sick.\u00a0 At first I wasn\u2019t sure what was wrong with him.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t himself.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t running around catching mice or playing with the other cats.\u00a0 He was being very quiet.\u00a0 I kept a vigilant watch over him […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-uncategorized","entry","gs-1","gs-odd","gs-even","gs-featured-content-entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wendywolfe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wendywolfe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wendywolfe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wendywolfe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wendywolfe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wendywolfe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7472\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wendywolfe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wendywolfe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wendywolfe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}