Who knew that being a dog owner could be a huge catalyst for realizing and overcoming limiting beliefs?
4 years ago I walked into a strangers home and around the corner came this tiny little black ball of fur, that immediately stole my heart. We couldn’t help but adopt her! However, when Luna came home with us we realized that something Lunawasn’t quite right- she was so fearful and insecure.
She wouldn’t come to us, in fact she would hide all of the time. My husband and I were totally stumped! All we wanted to do was love her, but she wasn’t willing to receive our love. She had way too many fears and insecurities to battle.
Walking Luna was the most difficult part. When anyone was coming towards us on the path she would get so scared, fearful and almost aggressive. I had trouble controlling my 4.2lb dog that was only 6 months old! I kept thinking I was failing as a dog owner. It was devastating to me that something so small could be so unbalanced and it was my responsibility to help her.
I continued to dread our walks because I just knew what the outcome would be: a fearful and insecure dog. I would be embarrassed, sad and shameful that my dog wanted to bite the leg off of every pedestrian walking by.
Oh how I hated those walks!
In my ‘normal’ fashion I started to research and educate myself on how to connect with Luna, by reading books, surfing the internet, and watching some related shows on TV. I spent countless hours trying to figure out how to make this home a place of comfort to our little puppy. How can I get her to trust us?
One of my favourite shows that educated me on dog psychology was with Cesar Milan, also known as The Dog Whisper. He would always say ‘Close your eyes and bring forth a vision of what you want to happen. Don’t let the past dictate the future- dogs don’t live in the past, they live in the present moment’.
I thought- what the heck? I wanted to create a safe place for my dog and I was going to try anything.
So before we would walk I would take about 30 seconds and hold a vision of what our walk would look like. I allowed myself to experience how it would feel for Luna and I to walk with confidence and assurance. After doing this a number of times it actually started to happen! Luna started to become more relaxed and confident.
So I continued to do this- I would close my eyes and imagine what I wanted our life to look like: a happy, healthy and balanced dog loving every minute that she has with us. Instead of believing a thought that wasn’t true (limiting belief that our walks would always be difficult) I started to focus on what I wanted.
Whenever I think of this situation it gives me the warm fuzzies because it is so related to how we live our lives. If we live in the past and let it dictate our present or future- we won’t create the life that we want.
We all have this wonderful ability to overcome anything, and live a life filled with happiness and purpose. We just have to harness the tools that can make that happen!
Limiting beliefs are created from past experiences and can really hold us back from moving forward. When we allow ourselves to focus on something that is more positive and true- we drop the shackles that keep us stuck and we’re then empowered to live our lives how we want.
PS- As I’m writing this Luna is curled up at my feet. I think she wants you to run free with confidence and love too!
If you’d like to learn more about overcoming limiting beliefs and creating the the life that you deserve and desire, I am still offering a free coaching session for my Spring Renewal Coaching for Women. To learn more click here.
Calgary Canada Life Coach Arianne Moore-Armstrong, founder of Path of Tranquility Coaching for Women, helps clients worldwide. Arianne is also the founder of the Ultimate Belief Breakthrough Method™