PET CORNER

Animals and Personal Prosperity

By Allen and Linda Anderson

In our work of sharing uplifting stories about Angel Animals, we have seen a shift over the years in what people think it means to live a prosperous life. Animals teach that prosperity comes in many forms beyond material wealth. As spiritual partners, they often show that personal prosperity needs to include a profound connection with nature.

Animals, with their unconditional love and devotion, help many of us to achieve a more balanced view of financial security. If people are so busy acquiring money that they don’t believe they have time to sit on the couch with a cat on their lap, walk a sniffing dog around the park, or ride a horse along the beach, they are missing out on some of life’s purest pleasures. Often the pursuit of great wealth smothers other forms of enjoying a prosperous life.

Over the centuries, certain animals have come to represent prosperity and treasure. In some cultures the boar symbolizes nature-based wealth, success, courage, and prosperity. The cow represents vitality, love, health, and life of the land. The dog heralds loyalty, protection, service, and future prosperity. The eagle, fish, crab, grasshopper and bee, to name a few, are symbols in diverse cultures of success, bountiful fortune, good luck, clear vision, nobility, and prosperity. Perhaps there is a subliminal reason why people have chosen animals to remind them of the kind of wealth that can’t be bought.

The following stories illustrate how animals provide missing elements to leading a full and prosperous life.

The Deer Helped Me Win a College Scholarship

In our book, Angel Animals, Divine Messengers of Miracles, published by New World Library in 2007, Kurt Welch shared an experience with a deer that changed his life and gave him the opportunity for greater prosperity.

While a teenager, Kurt decided to give bow hunting a try. After bow season began he found a small weedy field near his home where he could quietly watch for animal life. Kurt writes, “The first couple of nights I didn’t see anything, but after the third night, I saw a few deer. Then the next night I notice a couple more. By the end of the first week, I began seeing deer nearly every night. I enjoyed watching the deer so much that I never even thought about drawing my bow.”

Kurt returned to the field each night no matter how bad the weather or even if he was sick. “Being with the deer gave me a complete happiness that I’d never felt before. I hadn’t known I could be so peaceful and wondered if I’d ever feel this good again. It was almost as if the deer were coming to that field to make me happy, because seeing deer nearly every night for three months is highly unusual, especially during hunting season. It seemed like nature’s gift to me.”

On the final day of bow-hunting season the power of this gift became most apparent to Kurt. He went out one more time in below-zero temperatures with the ground covered by a thick layer of ice and snow. He was determined to see deer once more. As he walked toward his spot, Kurt thought about his life and what the New Year would bring. He waited.

“To my surprise, I detected movement on the other side of the field. I looked through my binoculars and identified the object as a doe. She walked slowly in my direction, stopping every couple of paces un-

til she stood about twenty yards away. Then she looked in my direction, just staring at me. She could smell me, because the wind blew in her direction, but she didn’t run.

“I suddenly realized that I was smiling. Never in my whole life had I been so happy! I believe this doe, that I think of as an angel, came to the field that day to make me happy once more, as the deer had done hundreds of time before her... That night I made a promise, and this dream began to form in my heart. I’d earn enough money to buy my own field, where deer could graze and then I could re-create the special days we’d had together. Eagar to carry out my new mission, I ran home and immediately went to work.”

Previously an average student, Kurt went on to make straight A’s, taught himself skills outside of a formal education, earned several scholastic awards, and received a full-tuition college academic scholarship. He was on his way to living a prosperous life, which included service to animals and people who appreciate them. When asked about his motivation for success and prosperity, he’d say, “The deer.”

A Dog Added Richness and Joy to Life

Allen writes about his relationship with our rescued cocker spaniel Leaf in his latest book, A Dog Named Leaf, published by Lyons Press in 2012. After going through profound life-threatening experiences with Leaf’s essential help, Allen realized just how truly blessed he was. His definition of prosper-ity changed to encompass what he had often taken for granted.

Allen writes about his life with the dog’s healing help: “Something profound shifted inside me. I was alive. I could breathe and feel and think. I could hug people and shake their hands. I laughed and felt real contentment. Having been pulled back from the brink, I ultimately considered myself to be the luckiest most prosperous man in the world.

“More than ever, I cherished all living beings. With the aid of everyone who had helped me through the crisis, some of whom I might never see again, I had come to know that relationships, not work or achieving all my goals, are what’s important.“

Prosperity can come in many forms. But animals keep us in the present long enough to experience the richness of the moment.

Allen and Linda Anderson are co-founders of Angel Animals Network and authors of a series of books about the spiritual connection between people and animals www.angelanimals.net. Their books are available as print, e-books, and audio books at online and retail bookstores. Visit www.adognamedleaf.com for their newest book.