Power Animal Guides

As we age, a funny---or not so funny---thing begins to happen to us. Our eyes no longer look at life with awe, our ears no longer hear the sounds of nature...in essence, we become jaded and the entire world seems dimmed and flat in effect. It is rather like a color photograph fading to black and white, or a numbness that begins to occur with repetitive stress to a particular area of the body. Life loses its effervescence........and some of us, somewhere along the way, just go on auto-pilot. This is the result of a world too preoccupied with material possessions and minds overloaded with information. We either numb-down in order to cope, or we lose it altogether and go on a rampage. Something has been lost, and often, its hard to know where to begin to recover that childlike wonder that makes life so precious and joyful.
It is important to remember that human beings are sensory beings by nature. The human mind can reason, the heart can love, the eyes can perceive color & light, the skin responds to touch, temperature, and so much more. Each moment brings with it the unlimited capacity for every person to experience a  fireworks-like display of emotion, beauty and joy. But...this is lost to many.
Every day, I speak with people who have simply lost touch, and they don't know how to get back. They've stepped off the bus a long time ago, and find themselves frozen in a place devoid of love, emotion and fulfillment. Many of them have enough material items, enough money, big homes, social contacts, and yet, something is still missing. I believe wholeheartedly that we have lost contact with where we've come from, and beginning to realign with our origins is as basic as walking outside and allowing ourselves to breathe, deeply, for the first time in a very long time.
Nature is so important to me. I watch the cement, bricks, steel and wood go up all over the county I live in. I hear bulldozers in the morning, drowning out what used to be gorgeous birdsong and gently rustling leaves. The air smells of car exhaust, chemicals, and insecticides. On my way to my work I never fail to see a deceased animal of some kind laying on the side of the road. Cars race by, with drivers on cell phones, oblivious to the increasing imbalance in the natural world. I am deeply saddened. Where are we going, or more importantly, what are we running from?
We are running from life, out of fear that if we stop for a moment, we might actually feel something. We might hear the frightened call of the deer we're running down or shooting for sport. My friends, these animals are our lifeblood, our ancestors, our connection with this planet, Mother Earth---which is currently the only home we know!  And, they are all becoming endangered because of our greed and ignorance. But the animals persevere. They still come forth bravely with their messages, pure of heart and beautiful. Building nests on our porches, raising families in the brush by the highway. These are our power animals in the flesh, and the spirit of each of these animals has a message for us...for you, and for me. I ask you to stop for a moment, and raise your awareness. As you find a renewed respect for the animal kingdom, you are also doing something very special for yourself. You are beginning to see life through the eyes you were born with, not the eyes you have become accustomed to looking through......and suddenly, you notice you feel alive again. Your senses begin to work like they are brand new, and as you watch the birds soar, you feel your spirit soar. Your energy buzzes like the bee, your ears hear like the rabbit, your eyes see like the owl, you slither against the grass like the snake.....you ARE the animal you see, and you NOW understand what it feels like to shapeshift! And you thought it was difficult to change form! Well, as easily as you shapeshifted into unfeeling and uncaring robots, you can shapeshift back........