A GIFT FOR ALL

Digital versions FREE
until December 31, 2016

I am deeply touched by the sympathy and caring expressed about the passing of one of my furbabies. So many of us have experienced this sadness in our lives, while at the same time knowing our beloved ones are in a better place. 

Over the years I’ve been writing, dogs have wagged their way onto the pages of my books to bring comfort, joy and silliness to the lives of many characters. It seems appropriate to celebrate Hudson’s life by offering one of these books to all of you as a gift. 

My publisher has generously agreed to offer No More Poodle Skirts FREE until December 31. Don’t know if other sites will follow suit, but here’s a link to Rogue Phoenix Press: <http://shop.roguephoenixpress.ieasysite.com/productinfo_v3.aspx?productid=NOMOEPOODLESKIRTS>. 

You do have to push a few buttons to get this digital book: Click on “add to cart” and the price will change to $0.00. If you don’t have an account, it will ask you to set one up. When you receive an email with the receipt, click where it tells you to. Make sure you’re signed into your account to download this book (ePub, HTML, Mobi—for Kindle—or PDF formats).

Cyber-(((HUGS))) to all of you!

WISDOM FROM DUNCAN: CHOOSE A DIFFERENT LIFE

These words of wisdom from my Duncan came several years before Hudson’s passing and serve as a reminder to me that we are surrounded by higher beings who love us and guide us, but also give us free will. We are not alone in what many times seems like a chaotic world, but we also determine what happens in our personal sphere of influence. By changing our thoughts and our focus, we can shift what manifests in our physical world.

Sound unbelievable? Why not give it a try? What do you have to lose except worry, stress and chaos?

~ Wisdom from Duncan ~

The time of four-leggeds on this physical plane is less than the two-leggeds we have come to teach. So do not use the passing of my physical body as another excuse to punish yourself. See this passing, instead, as another experience. 

You have the knowledge and the memories of what brought you to this lifetime. So you also have the knowledge and wisdom to choose another route. You can choose a different life. You can manifest the serenity and comfort and love you say you want. If only you choose it. A life of ease, creativity and comfort may be uncomfortable at first. Like forming new habits, the path to abundance may feel strange. You have experienced thousands of Earth years of suffering.

Give this new way of being time to settle into the bones of your physical body and become a gentle habit. Let the past fall away in the gentleness of a new way of being. Don’t feel you have to share this new feeling with anyone else just yet. It’s okay to cradle this in your heart until it grows from tender seedling to strong, healthy tree. Enjoy the newness. Feel the growth and strength. But know there will come a time–and soon–when you will be asked to share your message with the world. For others need to hear these words of hope and encouragement.

Others need to know it is possible to drop away what no longer serves them and open to the new reality forming so quickly around us. Indeed, that we are bringing into reality.

(Excerpted from I Want to Have the Heart of a Dog, by Genie Gabriel)

FAREWELL TO HUDSON

We said good-bye to Hudson this morning. I didn't expect him to hang around as long as he did after Ebony Rose passed at the end of August. As soon as I made the call to the vet's office he kept saying "thank you" over and over. He was really ready. Last night, my doggies who sleep downstairs with me all formed a circle around him to sleep; and my furbabies who have already passed were eagerly waiting for him on the Other Side. I know it was time and, though the tears still come unexpectedly, my heart feels his peace.  

THE CAT WHO THOUGHT HE WAS A DOG

Duncan had a special relationship with a cat who thought he was a dog who used to live in our house. Brooklyn was an adventurous soul who often was scolded for inappropriate behavior. When this happened, Duncan reinforced the corrective action by putting his mouth over the cat’s entire head. Never bit down, just put his mouth over Brooklyn’s head. The cat knew what was coming, and just sat with his ears flattened and his eyes scrunched closed. When Duncan finished correcting the cat and raised his head, Brooklyn just shook it off and went on with his misadventures.

(Excerpted from I Want to Have the Heart of a Dog, by Genie Gabriel)

DECEMBER’S DOGGIE HOST: DUNCAN

In spite of fears my heart would be torn into pieces, I finally gathered the courage to volunteer at the local humane society where we adopted Ace…There is good reason volunteers aren’t allowed to adopt for a certain time after they start. The temptation to “save” animals is strong. I proudly made it past the allotted waiting time without begging to adopt any canine friends.

Then Duncan caught my attention. When he first came in, this Collie/Shepherd mix seemed aloof but with eyes that mesmerized me. (Yes, I see the same situation that brought Ace into my life.) I figured Duncan would be adopted quickly. It took me four months to realize he was there for me. By then he had become the “old-timer” at the shelter–the dog who had been there the longest. My special cases. And he came home with me.

(Excerpted from I Want to Have the Heart of a Dog, by Genie Gabriel)

WOOFS OF WISDOM FROM GOLIATH

~ Woofs of Wisdom from Goliath ~

The wisdom you saw in me was a reflection of the wisdom you have access to if you will only open to it. If you will allow it to reveal itself, and if you embrace it as part of a new way of being. Wisdom is not for only a few but for the many. Everyone can have this wisdom if only they allow it to reveal itself. Simply open your mind and heart to hear its message. The message of love. The message of serenity. The message all is well.

OUT OF PAINFUL SITUATIONS CAN COME GOOD THINGS

Ah, Thanksgiving. That holiday sandwiched between flocked trees and blow-up Santas and  many times pushed aside in the rush to Black Friday. 

Well, corny as it may seem, I still like to take some time to be thankful for the many good things in my life—and that includes lessons that have come out of painful situations.

For instance, I lost one of my beloved dogs on August 28. Another furbaby is winding down his time here on the physical plane. Most of my other doggies are also facing some physical challenges. What I have learned from these situations is to let go of my tendency to be busy just because, and invest my time and energy with who/what is truly most important to me. 

Everything is weighed against, “This furbaby may not be alive tomorrow. So do I slow down and spend time loving these beautiful spirits who have adored me without question for years or do I (fill in the blank here).”

OK, I still have to cook meals and do laundry and pick up poop, but I’m making the time to love my furbabies—and trying not to beat up myself for the times I didn’t measure up to what I think I should do. 

So I’m grateful these situations led me to question what I’m doing and why. 

I’m grateful my “no” muscles are stronger so I can kindly and tactfully turn down requests from others that don’t match my priorities.

I’m grateful this has led me to be kinder to myself and realize my needs must one of the highest priorities in my life. Because if I go under, others depending on me will also go down. Not an option!

Interestingly, this has made me more intolerant of bad behavior. So I’m grateful for more courage to stand up to or divert or walk away from other people’s BS.

Looking at this particular list of what I’m grateful for seems somber amid a totally crappy year. There certainly have been rough times. But I woke up on New Year’s Day 2016 feeling like this was going to be the best year yet, and I think it has been. Whether you take the analogy of a phoenix rising from the ashes, or look at a pile of poop and think there has to be a pony in here somewhere, my lessons have been deep and life-changing. 

As I say in my writer’s bio, my rose-colored glasses may have bent frames and cracked lenses, but I always seem to clean them off and shove them back on my face. And for that resilience and plain old bull-headedness, I am also grateful.