How Grief Relates To The Work Of The Soul Options

[Furkidlets' Mom]

I just found this inspiring article on another grief board and wanted to share it with all of you. What really grabbed my attention first was this excerpt, which might just be one of the most effective rejoinders to those who would try to disenfranchise the loss of an animal companion:

"Scientists have recently discovered that no matter what the cause, all forms of grief create physical pain and chemical reactions in our body. In other words, grief in any form takes a measurable toll on us physically, one that can actually be quantified and seen in laboratories. The second interesting thing about these studies is that grief over the loss of loved one, whether human or animal, both measured the same identical effects in the body. So whether we are grieving a spouse, or a beloved animal companion the effects in our bodies are equal. That is an important finding because it offers us an opportunity to have more compassion for ALL those who grieve, not just those we can relate to, or those losses we deem 'worthy.' "

This interview, while it may not suit those who aren't as open to certain concepts, contains some valuable insights as well as the chance of offering some comfort and guidance for our passage through grief. If you can make your way through the entire thing, but aren't comfortable with some of these ideas, you can still practice that wise saying, "Take what you like and leave the rest." There are some real gems and other helpful links in here.......Read on.......

[zookeeper]

Great article. It's always nice to see in writing what we believe in our hearts.

[Furkidlets' Mom]

Glad you found something helpful in there. It also has just struck me that this kind of information (the part I quoted here) might also be used in response to all those heartless reactions we all get from ignorant people who WON'T choose to understand how deeply we grieve for our babies.

Wish I'd had the presence of mind to remember this myself just this week when I received yet another TWO of those shockers from other people I'd considered understanding friends.... Maybe I should have that paragraph printed onto a T-shirt or something, and then I could just POINT to it instead of just seething inside!

[toonie]

Your usual excellent guidance here Furkidlets, worth my precious internet time!
Grief can even change the actual shape of the heart according to what I read in the newspapers the other day! Grief can take us on a very hard road too, we all need to realize how fragile human beings are when they lose or have to decide the best for their pets, here on LS we are all very fragile but the fresh cuts are the greatest, we all know that and hope that each of you will make it out all right.