I have worked many jobs over the years. One of them being a kennel assistant at a pet boarding facility. Working that job taught me many things. One being how differently we all react to stress. Some of the boarders reacted with defiance by flipping over their food or water dish. Others went on a hunger strike. Some wouldn't eat while inside their cages. Others would just cower in the back of their cages or sit there shaking. Still others would become hyper and easily agitated and riled up. Some would follow protocol exactly while others resisted. Some lashed out and some barked. Others whined. Some just wanted pets and to be held. Others wanted to play. I remember one that was sick and I tried to approach and to console her but she got nervous and agitated with me there. I realized sometimes the best thing you can do to help is let another be.
The different personalities of these animals and their emotions while in the situation of being left in a strange place was clear to me. The various ways they reacted showed me that each individual is unique and will react to the world around them uniquely. Just interacting with these animals, observing them and being open to what they were experiencing and feeling was enough to show me that animals have emotional lives and different personalities like humans. I didn't need to read scientific studies to know that animals are living sentient beings. Although for the record I have also read many articles and various studies on animal intelligence and personalities.
The different ways these animals reacted to stress and fear and uncertainty helped me understand myself and other humans better as well. We humans live in a very stressful and confusing world. We humans cope with stress in a myriad of different ways too just like the boarders. Whether that's by working out at the gym, using legal drugs like caffeine or alcohol or illegal drugs, or we escape into a fantasy world with books, TV or video games. We sometimes get angry and lash out or cry or just become frozen unable to move forward in life. Sometimes we express ourselves others bottle it up and stay stoic. We all have our own ways of coping.
We have to be acknowledging of these differences no two individuals are alike. Too many factors go in to making an individual for the combination to ever come out exact twice. So these differences need to be acknowledged and utilized. Becoming aware of how you react to stress can help you better cope and address what is stressing you. You can then put your energies towards positive growth and outcomes. Becoming better aware of how others react to stress can help you deal with people. You can realize that they are reacting to fear or loneliness or whatever is bothering them. When you realize they are stressed you can better address the root cause than the actual behavior. While working with stressed dogs or cats you have to be vigilant that their behavior is symptomatic and how best can you put them at ease so you can work together and help each other. We humans can do that for both the human and non-humans in our life. We can become more aware of ourselves and others and how our feelings and reactions to those feelings play out. Compassion for others and ourselves can develop through that awareness. And with that compassion we can build bridges to unite and solve problems and connect. Connecting with one another is how we accomplish great things and is one of our main objectives here in this life.
Animals helped show me how different we all are and how similar we all are despite those differences. Within those similarities and differences we can find understanding and awareness of each other. Awareness is the key to healing, change, happiness and freedom.
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