Posts by Jeremy Palmer66

3 posts shown.

Condemnation in Psychology · Feb 9, 2014

I feel kind of silly even saying this, because I really don't want to sound like I'm judging anyone's life choices or how they handle things. I catch myself thinking about people sometimes, or I'll be talking with someone and the conversation drifts toward how some person acts, their career path, their marriage, or whatever... but at the end of the day, I always just land on this one thought: "Man, they just didn't know any better." To me, that feels like the most honest way to look at it. We’re all just out here trying our best to do what we think is right, even if we stumble along the way. Some people hit it out of the park and others don't, but everyone carries their own weight and deals with stuff nobody else sees just to make it through the day. That's why I think pointing fingers or being judgmental is honestly just... crazy...

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I'm terrified of failing my pets and plants! in Psychology & Therapy · Apr 1, 2012

VeronikaN;38674430 said:I just had to make the hardest decision today... letting my 17-year-old dog be put down. He’s been in such terrible pain these last few days, but his mind is still totally clear. It’s like he somehow knew what I decided; the way he looks at me is just killing me... dogs have souls, and I won't let anyone tell me otherwise.

I honestly have chills just reading that. It’s just heartbreaking... 😢

I really get where you're coming from and why you're carrying all this weight while watching him suffer...
You aren't "crazy" or anything, you just have this incredibly deep empathy for helpless creatures—those little beings that humans subject to so much cruelty and unfairness when they're completely dependent on us...
It sounds like you feel responsible for the inhumanity animals face, or maybe you're just hurting because of how heartless some people can be toward them...
As for how to deal with it, I can't even give you much advice since I'm sitting here hurting just as bad today. My own dog has been my shadow through seventeen years of life...
But even when it isn't my own pets, I still feel it. Especially with dogs...
There's this sense of outrage, this total disbelief at how cold people can be. And the scary part is that same lack of compassion doesn't stop at animals; it carries over to how people treat each other too...
Honestly, people who go out of their way to abuse animals would probably do the exact same thing to a person if they weren't terrified of getting arrested...
There’s actually this theory about why certain people form such intense bonds with specific kinds of animals, but that’s probably a tangent for another time... something about reincarnation, maybe...

Thanks so much for responding and for understanding. I’m convinced my brain is just trying to balance the scales somehow. Like, seven days ago, I spent two whole days chasing down a hundred different people to collect single dollars just to pay for a puppy's surgery. And I did it! But man, it wore me out. I was practically knocking on doors because people hate having to go to the bank to transfer money. Honestly, it's pathetic on their part. Anyway, the little guy got his surgery and found an amazing family. The woman who adopted him called me to say thank you, and I just started sobbing like someone had died... I couldn't catch my breath! She asked me what was wrong, but I'm still shaken up and tearing up. I don't know why I'm being this sensitive...

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I'm terrified of failing my pets and plants! in Psychology & Therapy · Mar 10, 2012

I’m not trying to start a whole new thread here since this is more about my personal life and animals, but I just need to vent... I care about dogs to an almost unhealthy degree. Like, it’s not even funny. I volunteer at the local shelter, I have two rescues that I pulled right off the streets, and I basically end up feeding half the stray dogs in town... It’s a lot. Every time I read some heartbreaking story about a sick or abandoned dog—or worse, one that didn't make it—it absolutely destroys me. I can't shake it for days. Just constant crying, feeling depressed, everything... I don't know what happened to me, but that’s just how I've been the last few years. I get this overwhelming, heavy feeling that I’m somehow responsible for every single animal in the country, and like... it's my fault they're being neglected or hurt. Does anyone have any advice on how to deal with this?

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