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I Feel Like They Know

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You know how animals just know things humans are usually oblivious about? They know when a storms coming, some animals know when a womans pregnant before she knows, and know if they can't trust a person.

I used to be a butcher on the kill floor. The job itself was uneasy but someone has to do it right? But quite a few traumatizing things happened there, including a couple times I almost got killed or seriously injured on the job. I still deal with a crazy amount of guilt for all the painful mishaps that happened when we were dispatching animals too.

But I feel like animals can sense when these memories are in my head. They're either sympathetic or they'll avoid me like I'm gonna kill them. Makes me feel like they got a grudge on me or can sense my guilt. Makes me feel even worse about all this. And I don't have a desire to kill. I swore to never kill an animal again unless I was starving or it was suffering.

Am I just being paranoid?
 
If we keep in mind that animals rely on body language to communicate even more than humans do, and that this extends to being able to read the body language of other species (like; is that other animal a threat or not?), it makes sense that animals know a lot more about what's going on in our head than we give them credit for. Add to that the sheer length of time that humans have had a working relationship with some animals (we've been keeping dogs domestically for about 20,000 years now), it surprises me when I meet people that doubt animals' intuition.

I'm not convinced that this would extend to the ability to know your past. But if you're even the least bit uneasy around animals, even on a subconscious level, animals are going to pick up on that, some better than others.

I've heard estimates that up to 80% of human communication is by our hody language, and most of that, we're not aware of and not doing intentionally. Can they tell your past work history? Perhaps not. But I don't doubt for a second they can tell a lot more than we give them credit for.
 
I think guilt is causing you to have distorted thinking. I wouldn't exactly call it paranoid though. Can they pick up on your moods? Absolutely, can they read your thoughts or know what you have done in the past? No.

There are scientifically proven reasons why animals can pick up on the things they do. They can sense pregnancy due to being able to smell the hormones. Same with when someone is dying. It is the smell. They can pick up on vibrations in the earth and are more sensitive to changes in air pressure because these senses are finer tuned than in humans. I have seen horses predict earthquakes.

They can sense your guilt because they can sense the biochemical signals of guilt.
 
So I just gotta work on my confidence and somehow shake this guilt? First I can work on. Second one mig...
A long time ago I got a certification in canine behavior and you can always tell when I've been around dogs for a while. If I've spent the day at the shelter (even if i've showered and changed), dogs are more likely to come up to me. So much of it is good old fashioned desensitization that causes the confidence.

I fully believe in acting first, and the feeling will follow. Somehow it's harder to go from thoughts to actions and sometimes you have to go outside in - no wrong way.

Even if you spend a couple hours with an animal that IS comfortable around you, and do that regularly, you'll acclimate. I wonder if a zoo walk or a hike would do the same?

It's like holding babies. I used to be so bad at holding babies but I spend so much time at church with them now and there's one who lets me hold her all the time that I'm less scared lol.
 
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