Stories of love triumphing over fear are reminders that we all have the chance to love others, even when it is risky. This story of a fearful human and dog shows us that with love, time, and patience, anything is possible.
Fear is often a response to a breach of trust.
Trauma is one of the biggest causes of fear in humans and animals alike. When someone experiences trauma, they can lose trust and confidence in the thing that hurt and harmed them. Trauma doesn’t even have to be purely physical for it to induce fear. Some people struggle with fear their entire life as a result of various forms of trauma. In severe cases, PTSD can escalate these emotions and cause even further issues in your personal life.
One of the biggest ways to heal this fear is time and acclimation.
Very Well Mind says:
“Repeated exposure to similar situations leads to familiarity. This dramatically reduces both the fear response and the resulting elation, leading adrenaline junkies to seek out new and bigger thrills. It also forms the basis of some phobia treatments, which depend on slowly minimizing the fear response by making it feel familiar.”
The story of Teresa Hwang shows what can happen when you open yourself up to the potential of love again.
Teresa Hwang was bitten by dogs twice in her life.
Like we saw before, trauma can come from a variety of sources. Teresa was bitten by dogs when she was ten years old and when she was twenty.
The age at when trauma happens is important in understanding it.
An important note about these events is the time that they occurred. When you experience pain and trauma in your formative years (like ten years old), you can hold onto it for your entire life.
Vowing to never do “____” again.
If you are then reinforced in that behavior when you are twenty, you an end up making promises to yourself to “never again _____.” In Teresa’s case, that blank was getting near a dog.
Thankfully, she decided to do the hard work of healing.
We all need a chance at healing from the pain in our lives. Teresa needed a chance to heal from her fear of dogs and Boo needed a chance to trust people again.
Boo was a shelter dog that was heavily abused and didn’t trust people.
Boo, like Teresa, needed to learn to trust again. The journey that these two went on was a beautiful path of healing and trusting again. Thankfully, Teresa documented much of it.
Taking Boo home from the shelter, the timid friendship began.
A house where two individuals are afraid to interact but are living together seems like the beginning of a rom-com!
Beginning their relationship, Teresa realized that Boo was more afraid than she was.
Teresa’s “fear began to dissolve” when she realized that Boo was just as afraid as she was. Boo would hide, run, and cower a lot. He was also afraid to be touched and would stay in the corners of rooms.
Over time, wounds began to heal.
As the duo stepped headlong into a relationship, the fear and distrust were slowly chipped away, leaving behind a tender and gentle heart.
Building and building, a relationship was formed between two fearful creatures…and kept on getting better.
Learning how to smile was a huge step in the right direction for Boo! He learned to play, run, jump and walk on a leash! They loved to spend time outside bare their emotions toward each other.
To finish the story, the two learned how to love and trust again.
Maybe this story truly is a rom-com! It is a funny story about two people learning to love again. Sometimes, it takes a dog to open our hearts up.
Check out the video below!
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@ketophoria“Change is the essence of life; be willing to surrender what you are for what you could become.” ~ Reinhold Niebuhr ##rescuedog ##dog ##furbaby ##doglove♬ Surrender – Natalie Taylor
