I said in the previous post that “when we understand that the illness does not rule our lives, but we have power over the illness, it will obey us, like a faithful dog that we feed and take care of according to our desire”. Someone said that a dog should not be cared for according to our wishes, but according to its needs. Totally agree. And who determines how it needs? Our pet is our responsibility. He is completely dependent on us his whole life. We establish the harmony in this relationship, as opposed to the relationship between two people, where the responsibility of the dynamic is shared equally. In the relationship with an animal, for both partners to feel good, this responsibility falls on us. Let’s say you forget to feed him, hit him, or neglect him in some way. Then the animal suffers. Now let’s go the other way and say your pet is gnawing on your slippers or sofa. Or they steal your food from the table. Or he bites you when you want to bathe him or give him medicine. Do you think he is to blame for all this? No, it’s still us. Because, unlike a child who does crazy things when he’s young, but learns from them, and stops when he reaches maturity, an animal will not have discernment for life. Because a puppy doesn’t think like us. He dominates or will be dominated. I won’t go into detail here on how to train your puppy. Basically, with patience and respect. But let’s imagine now that instead of the puppy it is your chronic illness. Do you let it dominate you? Or with the same patience and respect do you learn to master it? You will live with the chronic illness for the rest of your life. What do you prefer, to have an animal that climbs into your head when it feels like it, dominates your home and life, or a happy animal that loves you the way it knows how, understands your every look and sits obediently on your lap? Just as we feed our pet according to our desire, yes, that is, at fixed times, in his bowl, in his place, so let’s “feed” our illness, according to our will and desire, respectfully, but firmly. Because the illness is part of us. By having patience and respect with the illness we have patience and respect with ourselves. By understanding the illness, its symptoms, causes and all its manifestations, we understand ourselves.