04/03/2026
Oh…Good Grief!
Prior to losing a pet of my own, I had not fully understood the depth of emotion I had seen in others when they lost theirs. Much like losing a loved one, pets are loved ones—just the same. Recently, I lost a pet who lived 17 and a half years of life. In dog years, that is like losing a 126-year-old man.
In the last days of his life, I observed myself having catastrophic thoughts about the end of his life. Our dog, Piccolo, has been with our family for so much of our life. I found myself having trouble accepting a world where he was not there. My thoughts raced:
“I cannot believe this is happening. This is so awful — horrible —TERRIBLE!!!”
“I cannot STAND the thought of our dog not with the family.”
The presence of negative emotion in this situation is entirely appropriate; however, my repeated catastrophic thoughts exacerbated the already strong emotions I was experiencing about an upsetting circumstance. I found myself having a strong emotional reaction to an inevitable situation. We disturb ourselves further by replaying our irrational beliefs like a broken record.
Instead of, “not believing” this situation is happening, choosing to accept reality would allow me to actually believe this is, in fact, happening. Although the thought is awful and terrible, I am able to stand our dog not being with our family because it is worthwhile for me to do so.” Accepting reality does not equate to liking reality. It is through acceptance that we allow ourselves room for both the sadness and the love to coexist.
