Archive for May, 2009

Flower Essences Gave Gabriel A New Lease On Life

Gabriel Enjoying the Creek on Our Ranch in Texas

Gabriel Enjoying the Creek on Our Ranch in Texas

When I first met Gabriel in 1997, he was six years old and was at my friend the horse vet’s clinic. He had broken down completely after coming in off a long haul from a show circuit. Standing tied for 24 hours in a moving trailer combined with aggravations from previous injuries had left him completely unable to move his head and neck, and he was pawing and groaning constantly from agonizing pain.

My friend had tried everything, but Gabriel was responding to nothing. Plus, he wouldn’t eat so had already lost a couple hundred pounds the first time I saw him. She called to see if I thought flower essences might help because they address the emotions rather than physical symptoms, and she knew I used them in my practice. We figured it was sure worth a try.

I concocted a special blend of essences for Gabriel and began by simply rubbing a few drops into his forehead and ear tips. The essences are vibrational and work through the “electrical” system of the body, so don’t have to be ingested to be effective.

Almost immediately after the first few drops were applied, Gabriel began licking and chewing (a good thing in a horse) and started responding to my efforts at communication. Previously he had been a brick wall and I could get nothing whatsoever from him. I had been trying to let him know how much we wanted to help him, and that we understood how much pain he was in. That he must begin to eat or he would die, and that we would do anything we could to keep that from happening.

Gabriel showed me a lot of what had happened to him previously, including some of the accidents and abuse he had experienced. He then showed me that he had been separated from a little girl he adored, and that he just wanted “out” — he wanted to die. He was extremely depressed.

I told him the essences would help, and that we could talk a lot and maybe that would help too, and within the hour he was responding to body work and chiropractic and beginning to try to eat.

Gabriel was in the clinic for five months before recovering enough to be sent home. He was doing so well at that point that, despite instructions not to from the vet, his people put him back out on the show circuit.

So . . . two years after the first clinic stint Gabriel was brought back in, again after a 24-hr. trailer ride, and this time could not be brought back to health,  after even six months. The people who “owned” him could not afford to keep a horse they couldn’t show. Nor could they continue paying for him to stay at the clinic. They decided to put him down so as to avoid future suffering for him and in order to cut their losses.

To make a long, long story very, very short, the vet and I prevailed in convincing Gabriel’s folks to let me take him. Which I did. And we moved him to my property where I would end up babying him and hand-walking him for many months in order to keep his body viable (it took us an hour to walk one mile).

Gabriel went a full year without being able to roll or to graze or even to reach a water trough, but eventually he did all those things and more, and he has had a very happy life since.

Gabriel is now 18 and still has to spread his legs a little in order to eat his hay off the ground. And he’s a delicate boy and can’t be ridden. He goes through periodic set-backs due to sudden spells of bad weather or over-exercising himself, but asks for body work and is given feed, nutrients, and herbs too numerous to mention in order to keep him healthy. He has a beautiful mare to lord it over, and Copper, the wise old Quarter Horse, to learn from.

And yes, he does sometimes still take flower essences, and when nothing else will snap him out of a downturn, that usually works. The essences are magic, and Gabriel is a good, good boy!

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Chiweenie Love

Frida & Tucker

Frida & Tucker

I thought it was about time I checked in with Tucker, my Chiweenie heartthrob, to find out how he feels about Frida, our Chihuahua puppy, since she’s now a little over three months old and has been here about seven weeks. Tucker just sighed and said, “Oh, Mom, I think she’s WONDERFUL!”

Phew. Not that I didn’t think he liked her, but I do think he’s felt a little displaced at times and, ahem, jealous. And that’s hard, especially if you’re a  rescue who lost your first home and was on the streets for a while.

Before I brought Frida home, I showed Tucker a picture of her in my mind and asked him what he thought. He said only two things: “She’s pretty.” and “Can I still do this?” At the moment he was lying on my stomach with me prone on the bed, and he tucked his head down and to the right so it was flat on my chest against my heart. I told him of course he could, any time he wanted, and that I would be upset if he didn’t.

So today we were in that pose, which is one we assume quite often, and I asked Tuck for an update. After telling me he thought Frida was wonderful, I asked him if he still thought she was pretty, and he said yes, she was beautiful! “And she likes me,” he added. “She LOVES you!” I affirmed. This seemed to make him very happy, and I thanked him for being such a fabulous playmate for Frida and such an excellent role model.

About that time you-know-who came trundling up on the bed (she has little jimmie-rigged stairs so she can get up there) and landed playfully in the middle of us. So that was the end of Tucker’s and my quiet time together, and off they went, tumbling, growling, and pulling on a fuzzy toy together.

It is most affirming to see your animals happy. Especially when you know they’ve been through hard times. I do think bringing in a playmate puppy for Tucker has enriched his life greatly, as yours truly was unable, before her arrival, to stay quite up to speed with his exuberance and antics.

Soon we’ll see what Frida thinks, though from the way her tail goes when she so much as looks at any human or animal, I think I know what the verdict will be.

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A Heart-to-Heart Meditation to Help You Find Your Lost Animal

Lost Dog PosterIf you’d like to leave a comment after reading this message, please do so at my new web site at this linkhttp://www.herbsandanimals.com/?p=400&cpage=1#comment-30170. All new blog posts and comments are now being shown there. Thanks and hope you enjoy this post!  Leta

There is nothing sadder than losing an animal. The grief and anguish that accompany this kind of loss are almost unbearable. Unlike death, you don’t know for sure what condition or situation your animal is in, so all kinds of visions and awful scenarios take over your mind.

If you, like most animal lovers, feel you and your animal are connected mentally and emotionally — even psychically — then you will each sense each other’s anguish during this period. It is therefore KEY that you realize this and do everything possible to quieten your panic and keep it at bay while conducting your search. In my experience of doing lost animal work, that one thing is THE most important factor in finding your animal because your emotional state is going to affect his while he is lost, as well as his ability to figure out how to get home. Neither one of you can “think straight” while in a sense of panic.

The following exercise/meditation seems to work miracles — I don’t know how, but I have seen it work time and time again, and in the unlikeliest of ways.

1. Get quiet and centered, take a few deep breaths and be very relaxed so that you can focus. If you feel panic or sadness coming in, see those emotions being funneled off to the side and being caught and contained in a box.

2. When you feel ready, visualize a golden cord of energy coming out of your heart, like a laser beam, and extending to and finding your lost animal and anchoring in his or her heart. Your cord can look like anything you want, or whatever comes to mind. And if it’s pink instead of golden, that’s fine. Go with whatever your visualization presents.

3. Now flow love through the cord to your animal along with reassurance and the message that you are looking for him. Flow this message until you feel it has reached him.

4. Then tell your animal simply to follow the cord and it will help him find his way home to you.

5. Do this as frequently as possible and especially keep sending love and reassurance constantly to your beloved animal.

Don’t count on your animal to literally follow the cord and come walking in your door. Telling him to “follow the cord” is a metaphor for all the things that will happen along the way that will help the two of you get back together.

Expect anything. And follow every lead. I have seen reunions occur after months, so don’t give up hope. Meanwhile, do find a fitting way to honor your grief and concern — just make sure it doesn’t travel through the cord to your friend.

If you have a lost animal my heart goes out to you, and I wish you all the best in re-finding each other once again.

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So You Don’t Believe in Animal Communication

One of My Students Talking (Or Not!?!) With My Dog Sabrina

One of My Students Talking (Or Not, Depending on Your Viewpoint) With My Dog Sabrina

Well you’re not alone. There are many non-believers — just like there are about God and taxes. But wouldn’t it be a boring world if we all believed in exactly the same things and never questioned reality? We may THINK everybody else should share our beliefs, but if they did I’m sure we would quickly create something new to argue with them about.

Every animal communicator meets skeptics along the way. How each deals with them is unique, but I personally never try to convince them of anything. In fact, if they have contacted me about doing a session with their animal but are questioning the process, I try to talk them out of it. I respect their beliefs and opinions and do not feel it is my place to try to convince them of anything.

Take Mary, for example. Mary “won” an animal communication consultation with me at a silent auction many years ago so called me up to schedule an appointment. What ensued instead was a barrage of  hostile demands from Mary for me to explain to her how this could possibly work, especially given that I would not physically be with her animal during our communication.

I related to her as best I could my understanding of “how it works” . . . over and over and over. Nothing I said seemed to satisfy her, so she kept reiterating her question in an increasingly aggressive manner.

I tried to stay respectful and polite, but after 30 minutes or so began to draw the line. I became quite firm and told her it was not my job to convince her of anything, that I certainly had no desire to win her over to any point of view, that if she were interested enough to have bid on an a.c. session perhaps she should do a little more research on the topic before availing herself of it, or that, as an alternative, perhaps she should sell the session to the next highest bidder, who had been very eager for it. In essence, I told her I would not work with her; that I could not work with her given her hostile attitude.

That pretty much brought her up short. She backed off and, “No, no, I really want to do the session . . . ” blah blah blah. By that point I sure didn’t, but we booked it for a few days hence. It was to be 30 minutes long, and I simply accepted the fact that it would probably be a blow-out disaster so I went into it feeling I had nothing to lose. I would give it my best shot and that would be that.

As you might already have surmised, the opposite occurred. The session with Mary and her horse was one of the most revealing and rewarding I’ve ever done, and Mary kept me on the phone for an hour and a half (and happily paid for the overtime). She was so thrilled she referred many of her friends to me during the following years.

So, as they say: “Whatever.” I think I can speak for most of us a.c’ers when I say that it makes no difference to us if you believe in animal communication or not, and we have no desire to change you. We know what we know and take great delight and satisfaction in helping bridge the gap in understanding between the humans and animals who seek our aid.

I would simply suggest that if animal communication makes you scoff and feel testy, but you are still reading this blog, then there is something about it that you might want to delve into more deeply — not only about the practice, but about your own beliefs in general. Who knows, maybe it will be one of those doorways into the spiritual, the unknown, or the afterlife for you. It certainly has been for many others.

There. I have stated my case.        …………..respectfully submitted………………

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The “Doubt” Box

Put your doubt in a box and get on with it!

Put your doubt in a box and get on with it!

Continuing on the theme of my last post: trusting what you get when you’re communicating with an animal — here’s my favorite exercise to help you achieve that. I’ve used it in every workshop I’ve ever taught and not only is it fun and fanciful but works like a charm. It’s called “The Doubt Box,” and I learned it from one of my animal communication teachers many, many years ago and now pass it on to you.

And, the best part, you can use this exercise any time, in any aspect of life, not just when you’re trying to communicate with an animal and find that you’re doubting what you get.

It’s very simple. Here it is.

Hold your hands out in front of you. SEE yourself building a box with your hands. If it helps to visualize an actual box, like maybe a Kleenex box, that’s fine. SEE the box in the air as you begin to “build” it. Use your hands to build the ends, then the top and bottom, then the front and back. And it doesn’t matter what order you do the sides/top/bottom/front/back in. Do this as if the physical box was already there and your hands were simply coming up against the ends, top/bottom, front/back. Mainly, SEE the box.

Set the box beside you, on the floor. Or float it in the air, or do anything you like with it. You can even decorate it if you like. Just keep it handy.

Now . . . when you find yourself thinking something that is the equivalent of doubting yourself, physically reach up with your hand and metaphorically pluck the thought out of your brain and place it in the doubt box. SEE that happening. Thank the thought and your brain and yourself for having that thought, because it is a part of the old you that has helped you survive in this world of unbelievable realities. But tell it you don’t need it right now, place it in the doubt box, and then proceed with whatever it was you were trying to do.

You can place the disbelieving thought in the doubt box as many times as you need to. The main thing here is to keep doing what you were striving to do over and over unti it begins to feel more acceptable and more ‘real’ to you. This is how the brain functions. Through well-worn pathways. So in order to create new ways of thinking/modes of being, you must literally begin firing new neurological pathways in the brain over and over until they too become familiar and well-worn.

In class we all mutually agree that we have permission to say “Put it in the box!” whenever we hear a fellow student doubting herself. It is great fun and relieves a lot of tension and reassures all of us that we are safe to verbalize anything and everything that we need to.

As some old advertisement said:  “Try it! You’ll like it!”

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Trust Yourself – Especially in Reading Your Animals

Not sure what you're getting?

Not sure what you're getting?

The most difficult hurdle when learning animal communication seems to be trusting what you get — for everyone. Almost every student, when reporting on their practice conversations with animals, qualifies her report with, “Well, I don’t know if I just made this up, or . . .(blah blah blah). ”

Trust yourself. First and foremost. You know your animals better than anyone. So if you’re trying to read them, you’re probably doing it pretty darn well. Yes, you can be wrong sometimes, or you may be so emotionally involved that you need an outside opinion, but no doubt you will have good insight and intuition about the situation at hand.

An old client, Sue, contacted me this week because her dog Jack had suddenly become afraid to go outside. Jack was a rescue who came with some issues and has always been a bit high strung and finely tuned, but he’s been quite stable in his behavior for years now. So this change was unexpected and seemed like a reversion to old behavior patterns.

Sue and I went back and forth for a few days, deciding whether she needed a session or not. During that time I never formally tuned into Jack, but each time I took a psychic glance at him and his situation I got the distinct impression there was something new or different about the yard that he was afraid of. I don’t like to bank on such impressions, as I don’t trust psychic hunches without actually talking to the animal and getting their direct input, but often these glimpses can be accurate.

I emailed Sue one last time to see what she wanted to do because I hadn’t heard from her for a few days (her computer was down), and she wrote back saying she had figured out, pretty much for sure, that the problem was the new automatic sprinkler system they had installed in their yard. She didn’t see it happen, but she thought Jack might have been caught offguard and gotten sprayed by it.

See? Once Sue gave it a little thought, she tuned right into what was bothering Jack. And she trusted her feelings enough to go with them, suggesting we hold off on a session until or unless he didn’t snap out of it in a few days. I told her about those “glimpses” I had taken, and that they completely confirmed what she felt was wrong, and she was so proud to have gotten it all by herself!

So, when you’re trying to figure something out with your animal and feel stumped:  sit down, calm down, take some deep breaths, close your eyes if you like, and see what comes. Your intuition and knowledge of your good buddy will probably prevail, and you’ll have a good idea of what’s going on and what to do next.

Trust, trust, trust.

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The Vaccination Dilemma

Frida at 12 weeks, 2-1/2 lbs. . . . before the sore butt!

Frida at 12 weeks, 2-1/2 lbs. . . . before the sore butt!

I must admit, I’m pretty averse to vaccinations in ourselves or our animals — or at least to too many of them. We seem to have become convinced that one major way to become healthy is to vaccinate against anything and everything possible. But, while following a sane and cautious vaccination schedule is well justified, much of what is now recommended and given is not.

In an animal health workshop I once attended, a state veterinarian reported that it had been proven that one 1-year shot of the rabies vaccine protected dogs for five years. And it was suspected that they were protected for longer, but their antibodies weren’t tested past the 5-year mark so beyond that was an unknown (or at least was at the time of the workshop a few years ago, and this was before the 3-year rabies vaccine recommendation).

Every time a vaccine is introduced to the body, the body’s immune system has to work overtime and try to fight it off — it is an invader. So repeated vaccines can be very stressful, especially if given to an animal who is unhealthy or undergoing other stressors, like surgery. And (most people don’t know this), the vaccine itself is not what protects against disease; it is the body’s hoped-for response that does. So over-vaccinating is weakening and overall can degrade the body’s ability to fight off disease.

I have a dear friend who caught the flu this past January. And, golly gee, he had had a flu shot. He wound up in the hospital and caught pneumonia and a bacterial infection in his heart to boot, so has been down and out for five months now. I’m not blaming the flu shot for this; but it certainly did not protect him from contracting it, and, who knows, it might have been a factor that tipped the scale to set him up for getting sick. One will never know, but, in spite of occasional pressure from friends or family, I never get a flu shot.

So all this leads me to the current dilemma. Dear little Frida. Weighing in at 2-1/2 lbs. now. She has been past due for her second parvo/distemper innoculation for a couple of weeks, and I have been agonizing about whether to get it or not. I do believe in vaccines for babies, and all my animals get what they need until they are old enough to “hold” the protection, usually around four to six months. But I was thinking of skipping the middle parvo/distemper shot simply to ease the stress on such a tiny dog’s system. And a holistic vet I work with and trust recommended skipping the middle shot IF I could keep Frida unexposed until the next round. So that’s the direction I was headed.

But fate intervened and I realized Frida has seriously needed worming for the past couple of weeks. So off we went today to take care of all that, and back we came back with a sore little butt from a parvo/distemper shot. I just couldn’t take a chance with this little one. And even taking her into a vet’s office felt like “exposure,” so what was I to do?

She came home and slept all day and night with intermittent play times, but squealed when I picked her up from her nap because she was sore. It literally hurt my heart when she cried, but I know it would be so much worse if I were negligent and she somehow became gravely ill. I couldn’t take that.

So, while I will always be very conservative on the topic of vaccinations, I AM very thankful for modern medicine and the help it can provide. Amen.

If you’d like to read more about vaccinations from the horse’s mouth (actually from a veterinarian’s), please visit Dr. Marcia’s Blog. There you’ll find a wealth of information on this topic as well on alternative and holistic medicine in general.

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To Rescue or Not To Rescue?

Do These Babies Need Rescuing or Not?

Do These Babies Need Rescuing or Not?

My best childhood friend has resurfaced in my life. We haven’t spoken or heard of or seen each other in 40 years. I know . . . unbelievable. She heard my name in a nearby restaurant a week ago so looked me up; it turns out we live just a couple of miles from each other! She built her house here in ’94. I moved here a year ago. SO close and yet we could have spent the next 15 years like the last 40 — out of touch. It is so interesting how fate intervenes in your favor at certain moments in your life. This has been one of those moments.

I don’t know why we lost touch, besides the fact that my family moved away when I was 11, but getting back together has been like toast and butter. Easy peasy. We were (are still!) both adventuresome spirits and did some pretty crazy things as wee ones — and the few times we were able to reunite in our early teens — and it seems like our pattern may still persist.

Our current adventure — not so dramatic, but not something one does every day:  this morning we rescued a clutch of baby birds from her mailbox. They’ve been there, happily ensconced in a cozy nest, for at least a couple of weeks, and she has checked them every day when she walks a mile to collect her newspaper therefrom. Sadly, the last 3 or 4 days no mama or papa birds have flown out when she approached. So we knew those babies were in trouble.

Temperatures have begun to soar, making that box an oven, and as of yesterday we decided if there was no sign of parental concern by morning we would take the young ones. Which we did this morning. There were five, and they were very, very weak and had obviously had no care or feeding for quite a while.

The babies are now resting with the local wildlife rescue organization, and we hope at least 2 or 3 of them will survive. When I told another couple of friends about our rescue escapade today, however, they scoffed and said we should have let nature take its course (and that those baby birds would have made a great snack for the dogs!!!).

Frankly, I think if we humans erect a mailbox that attracts birds to nest in it, even though it will turn into an inferno about the time the babies begin maturing, then what else can we conscionably do but rescue them if the parents go AWOL. This is not nature taking its course. It is nature skewed by man taking a different course.

But I also understand the viewpoint of my other friends: we can’t save every little orphan soul so maybe allowing them to go on their angelic way is best.

Whichever, I think you must simply follow your heart. Rescue if you are led to; leave alone if you think that best. But, for my sweet childhood buddy and me, we could never leave anything alone, much less a baby thing, so jumping in feet first to see what we could do about her mailbox birdies was second nature to us.

Here’s to best friends and childhood memories and rescuing baby things!

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Gardening With Nature Spirits

A Nature Spirit or Fairy

A Nature Spirit or Fairy

When it came time to think about the garden this year, lo’ and behold the bindweed had completely taken over my raised-bed gardens. The master gardener, Joan, I had out to help advise me suggested we cover those beds with weed barrier and leave them for a year. Bindweed is VERY hard to get rid of!

This is my first year to try a garden in this climate and at this altitude since moving here in the spring of  ’08,  so everything is new to me. But given the current state of the economy, plus the fact that my daughter and her husband are relocating in the area from England so are present to help, all things point to “GO” for having our own healthy home grown produce this year.

But alas, what to do? With the “real” garden under wraps, how to proceed?

Joan suggested we make use of the large area adjacent to the garden — an area the previous owner had put down weed barrier and wood chips on and used for her toddler’s playscape. It seemed like a perfect solution, though a lot of work, and we had Joan to help guide us through the ins and outs of when and what to plant, what soil amendments were necessary, and how to water adequately in this high desert environment.

So I got quiet and began tuning into the garden spirits and devic energies of not only the entire area but those attached to my bit of land as well. I needed their help in coming up with a plan and a layout. Somehow I could not picture straight lines in this big square area — it just didn’t feel right — and I guess I was right on because what they showed me was a lovely spiral design that we could create therein. Although the spiral was to be very simple, and not at all like a labyrinth, it would create and hold energy in such a way as to benefit the plants and micro-organisms in the garden.

Upon reflection, I of course realized that the spiral has shown up in native cultures on all continents in petroglyphs and other forms and has many meanings. In one nearby ruin it is found, for instance, for the following purpose:

At Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, early native Americans used the spiral design (in conjunction with well placed vertical slab rocks), to measure the progression of the moon through its cycles.

I feel the nature spirits have led us, like their prescribed spiral will, into a beautiful and magical gardening journey, and I hope they will help co-create a bounteous source of nutritious sustenance.

Today I will walk the spiral and give thanks with smoke from sage.

We are very excited!

(If you would like to understand more about co-creative gardening, simply Google for it or check out the fascinating information here: http://www.altnature.com/thegarden/page2.html, especially the links to Perelandra and The Findhorn Community.)

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How to be an Only Cat . . . by Lily Worthington

This is me, "Lily," while dictating this article to Leta.

This is me, "Lily," while dictating this article to Leta.

To all you neophytes out there who suddenly find yourself an “only” cat, just listen to me. I have lots of tips and tricks of the trade to give you.

First, ahem, please excuse today’s blog — Leta obviously did not get down everything I told her, or flubbed up the interview some other way, because what came out early this morning on this page was one sentence only!!!!! How embarrassing!!!!!

Hopefully she will now get it all down in full, and she has promised me she will run this post tomorrow as well since half the day today was a waste, and since it is critical that as many cats as possible have an opportunity to read this important information.

So, to reconstruct what I told her yesterday, here are your helpful tips:

1. If there are any other animals in the family, play like you like at least one, even if you don’t. It will earn you lots of points. For me that would be Tucker, our Chiweenie, because I love to lick his ears and he lets me do that. As for the teeny-weeny one who is called by the silliest name you ever heard, Frida, I can take her or leave her. Though, truth be told, I am beginning to like her a little bit because she listens to me and respects me. So, rule number uno, act friendly, at least sometimes, even if you don’t feel that way.

2. Always try to sleep on your person at night, and that means on their body. The best places to get are the ones that are the sorest or most tender. You can find those by noticing carefully how your person reacts when you step on certain spots. This is very beneficial and healing for them, even if they don’t seem to think so (sometimes Leta wakes up in the middle of the night and ejects me suddenly as if I were a dead rat — I think she just doesn’t realize what a favor I am doing for her, or she is perhaps in a fog from a bad dream). Sometimes, your person may be so averse to your healing touch that you have to wait until they go to sleep and then creep up onto their body step by slow step. Very stealthily. Persevere. You are doing a great service here.

3. Every day or two bring a mouse or rat into the house, preferably at night, that your person will be sure to find the next morning. This will prove that you are doing what cats are supposed to do: keeping the property rid of such pests. It is best to chase and play with said pest for a while so your person wakes up and notices what you are doing, and then, no matter how much you want to, DON’T eat the whole thing. Always leave a part of the mouse, maybe even two or three pieces, or else you owner may not even know you did this for her. If you’re not allowed outside (horrors) then go through this procedure with a large bug or spider that you can hopefully find in the house somewhere. You will get the same strong reaction, proving that your actions are not only major events but also noteworthy.

Obviously, if there are other cats in the house they can take up some of the slack on these activities, but if you’re an only cat you’re just going to have to bite the bullet and perform them all by yourself.

Good luck!

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