What Animals Teach Us: Love, Loyalty, Heroism, and Other Life Lessons from Our Pets - Hardcover

Hessler Key, Mary

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0761536078 ISBN 13: 9780761536079

Publisher: Prima Lifestyles, 2001

Synopsis

Love, Loyalty, Heroism, and Other Life Lessons from Our Pets
Within the kind heart of the family pet lies an ability to help us stay in touch with our inner selves, our true instincts, and our healing power. A companion animal's love for life and for its human companions can inspire us to live each day to the fullest, treat others with kindness, and nurture those around us.
In What Animals Teach Us, author Mary Hessler-Key uncovers how the animals we share our homes with can teach us valuable lessons about living and loving. Inside are touching stories and beautiful examples of how the day-to-day companionship of an animal can teach you how to enrich your life, enhance your physical and emotional well-being, and soothe your soul in moments of grief. From animals who help us through life's everyday trials and tribulations to those who commit miraculous and heroic acts, you'll read about:
·A dog who helps a couple fill the "empty nest" syndrome when their children leave for college
·A cat who serves as an agressive alarm clock so his owner makes an important meeting
·A hamster who brightens his seven-year-old owner's world when he survives accidentally being flushed down the toilet
·Two ferrets who help an autistic child cope with everyday life
·And many others
When we open our hearts and accept what our companion animals have to teach us, we gain not only the secrets to a more fulfilling life but also a greater sense of peace and compassion. As we learn to love others unconditionally, be emotionally available during times of need, act heroically in everyday situations, and discover the joy in simple play, we raise our own consciousness to the world around us. It's simple: Our companion animals give us the best gift of all.
"An outstanding and unforgettable celebration of the special friendship of animals."
—Marty Becker, D.V.M., coauthor of Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul

"Reading What Animals Teach Us is the next-best thing to sharing your life with an animal companion. Numerous stories of loyalty, trust, respect, compassion, and love fill its pages, and they will fill your heart. Read it, be mindful, and be sure to play more and more."
—Marc Bekoff, professor of biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, author of Strolling with Our Kin and coauthor of Nature's Life Lessons

"This wonderful book chronicles how hard and well our pets are working to teach us lifesaving lessons about love."
—Margaret Wheatley, author of Leadership and the New Science

"What Animals Teach Us combines wonderfully told stories of animals' spiritual qualities with inspiring and practical applications to humans' daily lives."
—Allen and Linda Anderson, authors of Angel Animals

About this title

About the Author

Mary Hessler-Key, Ph.D., a business consultant, speaker, author, and executive coach, heads Mary Key & Associates, a consulting firm committed to the development of people and organizations. The author of The Entrepreneurial Cat: 13 Ways to Transform Your Work Life and coauthor of "Everyday Entrepreneurs," a training and development program based on the book, Mary teaches employees how to see their work lives from a new perspective and how to apply these skills to improve communication, productivity, and life balance. She lives in Florida with her husband, Lewis, and three cats, Jasper, Shedba, and Groucho.

From the Back Cover

"Reading What Animals Teach Us is teh next-best thing to sharing your life with an animal companion. Numerous stories of loyalty, trust, respect, compassion, and love fill its pages, and they will fill your heart. Read it, be mindful, and be sure to play more and more."
—MARC BEKOFF, professor of biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, author of Strolling with Our Kin and coauthor of Nature's Life Lessons

"This wonderful book chronicles how hard and well our pets are working to teach us lifesaving lessons about love."
—MARGARET WHEATLEY, author of Leadership and the New Science

"What Animals Teach Us combines wonderfully told stories of animals' spiritual qualities with inspiring and practical applications to humans' daily lives."
—ALLEN and LINDA ANDERSON, authors of Angel Animals

From the Inside Flap

Loyalty, Heroism, and Other Life Lessons from Our Pets</b><br>Within the kind heart of the family pet lies an ability to help us stay in touch with our inner selves, our true instincts, and our healing power. A companion animal's love for life and for its human companions can inspire us to live each day to the fullest, treat others with kindness, and nurture those around us.<br>In <i>What Animals Teach Us,</i> author Mary Hessler-Key uncovers how the animals we share our homes with can teach us valuable lessons about living and loving. Inside are touching stories and beautiful examples of how the day-to-day companionship of an animal can teach you how to enrich your life, enhance your physical and emotional well-being, and soothe your soul in moments of grief. From animals who help us through life's everyday trials and tribulations to those who commit miraculous and heroic acts, you'll read about:<br>·A dog who helps a couple fill the "empty nest" syndrome when their c

Reviews

"Written to raise the consciousness of humans about the contribution our companion animals make to our learning and growth," Hessler-Key's second book (after The Entrepreneurial Cat: 13 Ways to Transform Your Business Life) offers inspirational stories of meaningful pet-person interaction. Eight lessons (on playing, friendship, healing, etc.) are introduced in as many chapters, illustrated by vignettes, personal anecdotes and the occasional smidgen of research. Each chapter closes with a list of questions to ponder: "Pet Lesson #3: The Circles of Life," for example, asks readers to "imagine a dear pet from the past being at your side as you go through a difficult or transitional time in your life. How would your companion animal support you?" Hessler-Keys shows how pets have taught their owners about responsibility, generosity, faith and unconditional love but there's not much news in that. This volume takes common knowledge pets are good and, with great consistency, transforms it into schmaltz "Thanks to Skeezer's love and personality, Kathryn learned that each day should be enjoyed as if it were her last." Some pet owners might appreciate the many stories of loving dogs and supportive cats, but skeptics may wonder if it's really possible for a gerbil to gaze at her owners "with love and thankfulness," and they certainly won't be convinced by Hessler-Key's pat pronouncements. Lacking the simple pleasures of an "Everything I Ever Learned I Learned from My Cat" or the dedication to research that might befit a more serious study, this book is well-intentioned but ultimately disappointing.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Prima Lifestyles
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0761536078
• ISBN 13: 9780761536079
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224