It's amusing to me that we put the qualities we want for ourselves into our animals. Take for example the Pedigree dog food ad on television that says, "The soul of a dog is the wolf." It sounds exotic, don’t you think? A wolf is the symbol of intelligence, the ability to survive, and one who is rugged and self-confident. Who wouldn’t want those traits for themselves, or their dogs? The University of Chicago did a study that found dogs are not actually descended from modern wolves. In fact, dogs are most closely related to each other and not wolves at all. That doesn’t stop Pedigree from selling the idea that the inner most feelings of the dog are really those of a wolf and their food will bring out that inner wolf.
And that doesn’t stop us from buying into the idea either. Why? Because I’m sure you, like me, have had those moments in life when you thought there was much more inside of you than what you could currently see. Maybe you thought you could jump higher, or produce more, or that despite this outer body inside was something or someone more. I think the issue is that when you look outside of yourself for something to help your soul sing (or howl) then you are looking the wrong way. No inner wolf can emerge when your back is turned to it.
Tuning in to your soul is easy but takes practice. It’s easy to sit in a quiet place for 5 minutes every day, without talking – unless you are like my friend who talks all the time! I’m teasing because I know even she can do this. It’s easy to let the thoughts float by. It takes practice not to focus on any particular thought. Yes, I’d call it meditation and you can call it whatever you like. Yet when you take the time you will find within the practice will come the healing of the mind that will lead to a calmer, more peaceful way of being.
Would you like to bring out the traits of your inner wolf, for example self-confidence? Mediation is a wonderful way to tap into your inner resources for the answer. If there is an action to be taken you can be sure that at some point later in the day you will have a flash of insight. It will seem to come out of the blue but it will have arisen from deep within you because you opened that connection to your soul. And if there is nothing in particular to do over a period of time with consistent meditation people around you will start to comment on the fact that something is different about you. And you will feel different. The self-confidence you desire will float to the surface of your being through your meditation practice and with very little effort required.
Don't get sucked into thinking that someone or some ‘thing’ other than you has the answer for you. Your soul is calling from within - feed that inner wolf from within.
Now as a cat person let's talk about how dogs drool and cats rule!