A friend shared this inspirational message with me recently and I thought it was a nice reminder of gratitude, something that seems appropriate to reflect upon during this season of rebirth and renewal. Of course, every day is a good day to be grateful. And, by the way, it’s a blast dancing in the rain!

“Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass…
it’s about learning how to dance in the rain!”

I thought…that’s it! We all face adversity in our life. However, it’s not the adversity, but how we react to it that will determine the joy and happiness in our life. During tough times, do we spend too much time feeling sorry for ourselves or can we, with gratitude…learn how to dance in the rain?

It almost sounds too simple to feel important, but one word…gratitude, can change your attitude and thus your life, forever. Sarah Breathnach said it best…

“When we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present….we experience heaven on earth.”

Here’s a story about learning compassion for all animals from a child’s perspective. This was written by an unknown author. The photo is courtesy of Jon Read http://www.flickr.com/photos/ilikefish/207861606/:

My toddler son witnessed a violent attack upon a bat by some other children. He was extremely upset and wept uncontrollably. As I held and comforted him, I initially mistook his compassion for fear, assuming he was too young to experience such feelings. It was during a quiet dialogue with the tiny boy on my lap that the empathy for animals I had suppressed for many years resurfaced. The conversation went like this:

Danger

It’s Spring and for some dogs this is a time when allergies flare up and hot spots can develop. So, here is a suggestion from Susie and Danger (the adorable dog in the photo) to help relieve hot spots.

“For doggie hot spots I clean the entire area being careful to make sure I have cleaned all of it as it is easy to hide in long haired dog’s fur. Then I pat the area dry (damp really) and apply either hydrogen peroxide or colloidal silver drops (available at health food stores & used undiluted), wait a few minutes and spray Skin-Lasting* directly over the entire area. I do this 2 times a day and generally by the third time it is healed. I have had people tell me that on cats for dry or patchy areas it is harder to spray and it seems to sting more. However, the stinging only lasts for a few seconds.”

* Skin-Lasting is a product that Susie actually developed for people with dry skin issues and she has found it effective to heal hot spots on her dog too. I’ve used skin-lasting for myself and it does do wonders for healing dry skin and it’s a great moisturizer for my mature skin.  It sprays on like water, it’s not greasy and it’s effective. Here’s the link to the website for more information:  www.skinlasting.com

Danger only gets one or two hot spots per year so this method of treatment has been effective for his needs. Hot spots can be an indicator of allergies or other conditions, which may require a dietary change and/or other treatment.  If your dog has chronic episodes of hot spots, consulting a veterinarian is advisable. My dog Syra used to get hot spots often; she had allergies. I found the Chinese herbs called Skin Relief to be effective for her. Here is the website link for that alternative: dogcross.com.