When the Systems Seem to be Failing Humanity, Find your Tribe
It’s an axiom to say, We are living in challenging times. Such a thought prompts me to ask:
If the established systems were working so well, why are there so many suffering?
If there were only one right way in which to live, why are so many others succeeding and others, radically failing?
Institutions, companies, systems,
Institutions, companies, systems, protocols, established industry methods, yada, yada, yada, are ways that people have found worked for them. They are time-tested and true.
And they worked, within the confines of their generation.
One of the things that I cherish in living at this time is the waves of transformation and inspirational thinking of empowered women and enlightened men willing to step up, speak out and act on behalf of those who are otherwise not so empowered. The weaker, more vulnerable, those who are suffering – those people who are willing to step up and train dogs to teach them to become better canine citizens, or delve into the psychology of their canine minds to understand the reasons for their behavior, or those willing to listen deeply to the messages an animal is trying to speak across the airwaves.
The deeper I dive into the world of animal welfare, the more heartened and inspired I feel. I get to say this, because being a fifty-something woman, I grew up with pet stores on Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago. I was introduced to dog training by my father plugging in an electric cord and allowing my puppy that would one day suddenly disappear, to teach him not to chew on things, and shock himself.
Those were the days. Thankfully, they are so very, very over.
In our time, we are seeing influencers and changemakers. Social influencers, entrepreneurs. We are seeing people willing to buck the status quo.
If you feel like you were born out of your time, I resonate with such sentiment. And yet, I have to say,
No, we were born at just the right time. Our voices and energy are needed more now, than ever.
Women like my friend Inna, who stepped up to adopt three mustangs who would have otherwise been run off the land at the behest of ranchers profiting with the permission of the BLM. She teaches these mustangs to play fetch with a deflated soccer ball, or yoga-style downward horse postures. Other women like my friend with Paws from Afar, save dogs from Louisiana’s high-kill shelters by the hundreds, getting them homes in Maine.
So many women and enlightened men running animal rescues 24/7, spending their life energy caring for dogs otherwise given up on by others. So many women and enlightened men, trotting up and down the streets of Puerto Rico to pull dogs of out of harm’s way and bring them up to Washington, D.C., from Lucky Dog Animal Rescue, where they find forever homes.
The list of people stepping up to make change, goes on. I see it daily.
What does it take for such change?
It takes a strong community of enlightened people to continue to support each other, to continue to seek each other out, to attract each other, and to connect.
That is the way that change will happen. That is the way of those of us deprived of cushy beginnings and abundant starts, who had to find our way into life, and become more of ourselves in the process.
That is the way of those of us who were relegated to apartments, while our friends pranced out of their plushly-furnished, loving suburban homes. That is the way of those of us who had to wait twelve anguishing years to earn our bachelor’s degree, while our classmates drove off to college at graduation, because our fathers were alcoholics and mothers were too detached, to show us what empowerment looks like.
That is the way of those of us who were told No, because we didn’t have bachelor’s degrees and had to wait twelve more years to obtain them. Working, instead, driving horse-drawn carriages on the streets of Chicago in January, with the slowest horse in the barn and an open carriage, talking romancing couples into a ride, when they’d otherwise prefer that closed antique one.
Buck the status quo and forget what others tell you: This is your time. This is your life. We are here to help show others not so empowered how to forge through, anyway.
Need a source to begin? Join Reboundog today. Be part of the change the world desperately needs.
Comments ()