The Jack McAfghan Series

The Jack McAfghan Series
More to Come!

Friday

Separation Anxiety Reversed

Now you know the way I felt when I couldn't go with you.
You always came right home to me. 
Whey would it be any different now? 
Everything will be okay. I'll see you soon. I promise.

I'm just gone from your sight for a little while. 
I promise, you'll Come Home to me.
Have faith in this. Just wait and see. 
I'll be all excited at the gate
To see you, oh I cannot wait! 
Until then know I love you. 
I love you. I love you. I love you.

Sunday

You Can't See What's Hurting Me - Electromagnetic Fields and Pet Health

People and animals need a healthy environment to thrive in a long and vibrant life. I've noticed and experienced how you will often do everything in your power to create a life worth living for me. You feed me the best food, take me on long walks through nature, ensure my vaccinations are up to date, buy me healthy toys and treats, and love on me every chance you get.  If you work all day, you typically spoil me rotten when you return home. 


Do you know that there is something in our home environment that can be dangerous to me? Something you may not even notice because it has become so commonplace.  It's called an ElectroMagnetic Field(EMF). EMF's can't be avoided in modern life, but they can be minimized so that they don't take their toll on you... and on me. 


Electromagnetics All Around and Over and Under While I Try to Sleep
I notice how you carry your phone with you most of the time now. You carry it in your breast pocket. You strain your neck and your eyes to see whatever it is that is so important to you. Do you see me looking at you looking at your phone again? I look at you and then I look away. It makes me uncomfortable. I know it isn't good for you to be listening to it and looking at it all the time. I don't like it when you use the camera on it to take a picture of me because I am very sensitive to the energy of the phone to begin with and the flash really hurts my head and my eyes. I see you awaken in the middle of the night in our darkened room and ON goes the phone and it lights up the whole room. Don't you know that it is hurting you too? Your eyes, your head, your mind, your heart. 



Our bodies are designed to heal themselves and getting a good night's sleep in a dark and quiet place is part of the healing plan.  It is important to give the brain a rest. It's like shutting your computer down and re-booting it when it has been on too long.  If you don't reboot, your brain slows down and when your brain slows down your ability to withstand stress and sickness slows down too. Our brains get a much-deserved rest when we are sleeping and perhaps even dreaming, but it is in these unconscious moments that we are most vulnerable to the negative energy around us because we can't protect ourselves. Negative energy can be other people's thoughts, but it is often caused by invisible environmental factors. Some people say their prayers each night because prayers can help protect us while we are helpless and exposed while we are sound asleep.   



Like most dogs, I am empathetic. I am more sensitive to the energy fields around us than you are.  Sometimes if I consistently don't want to go someplace with you, I am not being disobedient. It's just that I see something or feel something that is not good for us there. 

I can see how you are living your life and how the energy--for better or for worse--affects you. If it affects you, it affects me and because of my empathy I will literally take on your physical and emotional pain.  I am designed by God to protect you and I do it in ways you probably never even thought of before. 

All day long I am picking up on the energies around me. If they are happy energies, I gladly absorb them! If they are negative, I absorb them too. Because we are always connected, I can feel your energy when you are gone from me and I absorb it across the miles. If you are not happy at work today, I know it firsthand. I know it as well as you do. 



What can you do to help me?  Give me a good night's sleep every night in a room that is a healing space for you and for me. Give me an area to sleep in that is free of electromagnetic fields. Keep your phones and computers and other electronics out of our bedroom. You don't need to be working all the time; you work enough as it is! It can only help both of us. Turn the heat up in the house instead of using the electric blanket. That blanket is not good for you. Or me. Keep doing all the other things you are doing that are good for me.

Have your other pets suffered from similar medical issues? Look around you and minimize the risk factors. Save us from the list of chronic ailments that range from general immunity issues (you wonder why we are sick all the time?) to neurological problems to cancer. By helping me you help yourself too. By the way, our friends the cats are better equipped to handle negative energy than we are. When cats rub up against you, they are actually taking the negative energies from you that you have absorbed.  As a rule, cats are not as empathetic as dogs are, so they can Shake It Off easier than we can. They don't tend to absorb your pain like we do.  



Do us all a favor and try to keep the energy around us positive. Be happy. Keep things simple. When you are healthy, I am healthy. When you are happy, I am happy. 

Friday

A Spiritual Translation of "Goodbye"

Spiritualist, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, said it perfectly. If only you would realize that you "are not a human being having a spiritual experience; you are a spiritual being having a human experience" here on this earth, you would not make a big deal out of my leaving. I am now FREE of the discomforts and constraints of my earthly existence and I am so happy!
I miss you, yes of course I do, but I know that I am made of spiritual energy and that we are still connected at a deep soul level. I have faith that exceeds any disruption or emotion and I pray that you will be able to have this kind of faith too. Faith in me. Faith in Him. Faith in something greater than what you now see. Don't you see, you are stuck on the details which no longer hold meaning. They live only in your own tormented memory. What you see on this earth is NOTHING in comparison to the world that is waiting for you! The world where I Am.
If you want a really good spiritual read, pick up something, anything by Paramahansa Yogananda.

Monday

Canadian Reader Approves of Jack with Five Stars

5.0 out of 5 stars I feel my pet sent me this book to comfort me.

Wish I got hold of this book when I lost my precious pet a year ago- it helps a great deal to survive your pet loss. Also, answer so many questions well beyond the pet- human relationship; in fact, it answered my questions I've been carrying in my head and heart for quite a while- questions about love, letting go, Universe etc. I can honestly say this book transformed me, definitely time and money well spent.  

Thank you Nataliya Nikolayeva for your kind review! 

Sunday

The Ripple Effect of Life and Love

Catbrother 
Dear Jack, 

Do you ever wonder how many lives you have changed? I have been advised from time to time in my life to journal my thoughts and feelings. This was true when in 1997 I lost my husband, father, and brother all within a six month period of time. I could not express my sorrow and got stuck in toxic grief that lasted almost three years. 

My favorite cat, Catbrother, a beautiful Flamepoint, was my only solace as I did not think a human on earth could comfort me. Catbrother lived a long life and his passing on November 17th 2009 took a large toll on me as I had needed him so much for comfort. He lived for 16 years on earth. He lost his battle with kidney failure and I was finally helped to set him free of his earthy body to live in the wonderful place where pain has no place. But I digress. 




It is a comfort to write to you who cares, does not judge and offers all who come to you comfort, love and hope. These are scarce commodities sometimes here on earth. I pray that your story spreads far and wide and that those who grieve find you and join those of us who love you beyond that which words can express.

Regards,
Denise

Dear Denise -- 

I've lost track of how many lives but from where I see it now, I can see a rainbow ripple of love traveling all across the world, the earth, and stretching forth into the universe. That's what love does. One act of love goes beyond our deepest imaginings!  Your love is doing the same thing and your words of appreciation have traveled into my heart and there they will stay. They grow in their love for you and offshoot to everyone around me (and there are lots of us here, believe me).


>''< Flamepoint Catbrother  (that's what we call him) has been here much longer than I, but he says that it's been like the blink of an eye from when he arrived until I came through the gate. I know you think he lost the battle, but he actually won it. He got the prize. The one thing everyone on the earth -- two legged or four legged or eight legged -- must remember. The most important priority in life is to prepare for the next life. That life is the real life. That life is immortality. This life is just a dream and your husband, your father, your brother, they were all players in the script. They loved you very much when they were there with you, but they await your arrival one day here with arms open wide and hearts 100x bigger than they were when they lived there.



I am glad we have found each other.  When I crossed the bridge, Kate could not see all the good things that were ahead of her, but she is starting to. She is meeting beautiful people like you who connect with her because of our book and she one day will see what it was all about.  It's all about who we love and where we are ultimately going. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, your kind reviews and for helping us to reach the others who need comfort and love too.  We all love you Denise... and in the blink of an eye we'll be together again. 

Love, 
Jack

Saturday

Why Can't I See or Sense My Pet After All This Time?

Dear Jack, 
Why is it that can't I see, hear, feel, sense my pet who is at the Rainbow Bridge? She has been gone two years now.  What am I doing wrong?
Mitzi's Dad 

Dear Dad, 

You aren't doing anything wrong. You may just be trying too hard or you could still be overwhelmed with your grief. Keep in mind, humans are used to listening with their ears, but it's important to try to listen with your heart instead. When we speak to you we speak from our heart to yours. Start paying attention to your heart and how it feels so you can recognize when Mitzi speaks to you there.    

It's also possible that you have had signs from Mitzi but you missed them. They don't always come as clouds and jingling tags. Sometimes they come in overheard conversations, songs that play on the radio, commercials on TV, rainbows in the sky.... just keep an open mind. Don't be afraid to ask Mitzi to come to you in a way that you can experience her. There's nothing wrong with having a conversation with her -- she would love to know that you still believe in her!

Hope this helps both of you! 

Love,
Jack

Friday

Why Does My Mind Keep Replaying the Trauma?

Dear Jack, 
My cat died somewhat suddenly last night. Everything was fine and then it was 45 unanticipated minutes of struggle and racing to the Emergency Animal Hospital. I am trying so hard not to cry today, to celebrate his life rather than to dwell on last night. Why is it that my mind is on constant replay of the horrific way he struggled and passed?  I so want time to hurry up, to be next week or next month so I do not break down. No matter how many one loses it does not seem to get any easier...
Love,
Sue

Dear Sue, 
Please go easy on yourself. You have lost someone near and dear to you. It is totally natural that you would need to shed tears, cry and weep over your loss. If you restrain your tears, it could make you sick. Your tears need to be released.

Remember there are Five Stages of Grief that we travel through when we lose someone.


The "Replay Phenomenon" that we all tend to go through to one extent or another is our mind's natural way of processing trauma and loss. It is natural to replay in your mind the details and circumstances of any kind of trauma that changes your life. Deep in your heart you know what is true. Your mouth speaks the truth, "My cat has died." but you still don't want to believe it. You go over and over and over it in your mind because you are in the stage of denial. Your heart replays the scene for you, for the express purpose of teaching you to accept what has happened. While your heart tries to "rewire" your mind to accept and understand what has happened, your mind keeps looking for a different answer. It doesn't like the truth. Alas you keep getting the same answer; the scene always ends the same way. Every time you see it replaying, you say to yourself, "No. It cannot be true." Replay. Replay. "No." "No". Every time you argue, "No". Much of this you aren't even conscious of. You just know you feel terrible, tired, lost and confused.

The grief process includes this complex defense mechanism of the body's heart and mind. The trauma is simply too much information to process all at once. Just like when you are learning something that is complicated, you need to read it over and over until you understand it. You need to take the course again. You need to watch the video one more time to grasp the lesson. You finally learn. One day, in a time that is not predesigned, you have to admit that, "Yes" it is true. What happened is true and your loved one is gone. They aren't coming back to this place. Once you comprehend this, you can move forward with acceptance in the deepest part of your mind. 

The difficulty arises when you get stuck in the saying, "No, no, no, no..." and "No" becomes a habit. The head and the heart become disconnected. You get stuck in your head and you forget about your heart and what it knows to be true. You make what your head is saying stronger than what your heart is saying. 

Your head is not necessarily your friend. It does not tell you to forgive yourself. Your head will tend to tell you that you are guilty; that you must have done something wrong. When you are stuck in your head, you cannot access the love in your heart that is forgiveness for all (including you) and belief in the love of everything. The heart is your true strength, but your mind thinks that it is the stronger of the two. When you are stuck, the bridge between your head and your heart needs to be reconstructed.



If you are stuck in the replay groove of pain and need to join your head back with your heart, focus on your heart. Give it some attention. Treat it like a very dear friend whom you have neglected. Stop crying for just a little while. Breathe deeply. Clear your mind. Lay your hands upon your heart and feel its strength. Ask it for forgiveness. Ask it to bring you the peace of truth. Some people are in too much pain to be able to quiet their minds to do this. They may need the help of a professional or hospice counselor to get unstuck from the continual replaying of their grief.  

In the meantime, go easy on yourself. Give yourself permission to replay it a few times and then allow yourself to move ahead towards true healing. When you move ahead, you are one step closer to the Rainbow Bridge and one step closer to the one you love who resides there.