From Bella: “I know what you’re thinking because I hear it all the time…. ‘oh what a pretty cat.’ I am grateful for the compliment but there is far more to me than my pretty looks. I have always been a little shy around people, but that is changing. I have a renewed mission and passion for life now than I did a couple of years ago. I used to be overcome by the problems that humans hold onto and carry with them. I think being human must be fairly difficult to deal with. You have certain blind spots about yourselves that you can’t seem to see the beauty in your own self. But I have come to realize that I can help with that. Every single being is beautiful. And when you let your inner light shine, you can be amazingly radiant. What I have learned is that I have a gift to help you find that inner core. I am grateful to help ease the burden of the human heart. You are more important than you realize. Every light is meant to shine. That is how we help each other out of darkness.”
Below is a video of Bella with Dawn reading her message:
From Rollin: “Hey, hey, hey there! I am Rollin and I am a spectacular rooster. Here are some of the many things that I am grateful for. Hens, without them I am lost. The sun, always. The rain, as it is needed. Worms. Bugs. Mud puddles. People who listen. People who care. Kindness. The quiet of the barn at night when we all listen to each other eating and breathing. The farm and being able to freely explore everything I want – especially the garden beds. Greenies given to us as treats. Freedom. For all of these things, I am truly grateful. Let’s hear some things you are grateful for. What things are on your list?”
From Leo: “I love these messages. I think people underestimate how much we animals do appreciate things and how deeply we feel about things. I see this all the time. Sometimes people say things about me and call me stubborn. That is because they really don’t know me. And when people dismiss me, then I don’t show them the more sensitive side of myself. I’ll tell you what my favorite things in life are. First, I am grateful for all my friends. We are a real family and we all deeply care about each other. I love being outside in the sun. But I also like looking at the rain. And my favorite thing of all is to watch butterflies. I think butterflies are magical. If you watch how they surf the wind currents and then land on a flower. They are really special. When I see a butterfly, I watch them and I feel their joy and freedom. It makes me happy. When is the last time you took time to watch a butterfly with wonder?”
From Lucy: “This is a very special year for me so I asked to be picked for this question. Without the help of my human friends here, I would not even be alive right now. People believed in me. They trusted me with the decision that I still wanted to live. I had a disease that caused my face to get huge. They called it a mass. I didn’t care at first, but then I started getting bad headaches. I haven’t always been easy on people. But even though I can be a little opinionated, they still treated me like a queen and listened to what my feelings were. I underwent a lot of treatments and vet visits. But the mass went away and you would never even know that it was once there. I feel great. I look great. And I know that I am one of the luckiest cats in the world. I am grateful to everyone who pulled together to help me get my treatment. And I want you all to know how grateful I am that you care so much. I get to appreciate every breath I take for the rest of my life.”
From Mary: “Oh my goodness, the list of things I’m grateful for is very long. First of all, I must tell you that I love being a sheep. It is the greatest thrill of all. I am grateful to stand outside in the sun and soak in all the warmth. I am absolutely infatuated with plants and trees. I am grateful for all they bring to the planet. There are so many different kinds of grasses and plants that I love to eat. And one of the most amazing things in the world that I am grateful for are peppermints. Now, to be clear, they do not grow on trees or bushes. I depend upon the kindness of humans to bring me some of those. And I am most grateful when they do! I love my sheep friends and my human friends too. I try to live my life one breath at a time. No use fretting over things. Whatever is happening will change in the next breath anyway. That is what life is about. I ride through life like the butterfly surfs the currents in the sky. Every single thing in life is worthy of gratitude.”
From Cami: “I spent a part of my life feeling like I was not grateful for much of anything if I’m honest. It was like I kept hitting a wall. I ended up with humans who never understood me. They tried to get me to do things I just couldn’t do. I tried to please them. But no matter what I did, it was never good enough. I couldn’t really find much joy in anything. But that all changed for me. I have been here on this farm now for several years. And it has taken me all these years to really trust that what I found now is real and is going to stay this way for me. I’m not going to be sold to someone else who will be disappointed in me. I’m home. And now I am finding out more about myself and who I really am. I am liking life very much now. In fact, I am grateful for every single day. I feel like I am here to learn a lot in this lifetime. Trust is a big issue for me. I am grateful to live in a place where I have learned to trust. What a gift that is. My heart is more free and less painful. And I stop and appreciate all the little things in my life that make living so worthwhile.”
From Arabella: “I am grateful that people here see me for what is inside. I know I am tattered and torn. But my heart still loves comfort and compassion. I love to sit with humans who understand me. There is nothing better than sharing with another heart. I love my cat friends too. If someone wants to come sit with me, I will snuggle up on your lap and we will share in that moment together. I find magic in quiet time. You humans spend way too much time moving around. You should relax and breathe more. It would really help you to balance yourselves better. That is just my advice. Those are my thoughts. I am grateful to be here and grateful to share with you.”
From Lucy: “The years have been very kind to me. I am enjoying every bit of this amazing ride in this spectacular goose body. There is so much to do. I cannot get around as much as I once did. But I am still keeping track of all there is going on around the farm. I feel a lot through my feet. I love to feel the earth and know that I am deeply rooted in earth energy. I love the respect the humans here give to me. It fills my heart with pride to be here. It is an honor to serve a life of purpose and measure. We have a big mission here. My heart holds space for it all. I soak up every bit of kindness and compassion and love and hold onto it so that I can send it out to the universe. I am but a goose you say? No…. don’t let my “gooseness” fool you. My wisdom comes from many lifetimes and will go for many more. I am blessed to be a part of the heart of this farm. I serve with honor and dignity and pride. And my soul shall here forever reside.”
From Mabel: “I am delighted to answer this question each year, so thank you for giving me this opportunity. I am grateful for so many things. I wasn’t always that way. I used to be fairly withdrawn within myself. But all of that changed when I found some amazing donkey friends to be with. I love them all. We lost two very special donkeys here this year. I would like to dedicate my message to them. I will tell you what I was most grateful for in them. Xander was elderly like I am. He had a very large heart and soft wisdom. He brought a lot of peace to my life. I was so glad to know him. I can still feel him around us. He had a way of making the world feel alright. And, Noah, was the other cherished friend. When I first met Noah I was determined not to like him. I thought he was just another young upstart trying to prove his way in life. But, oh, was I ever wrong. Noah was an old soul in a young body. He left us way too soon. Noah held a big space in our herd. He understood and radiated a great peace. He was very special. I hope one day I will see my two friends again. They taught an old heart how to be soft again. I will always be grateful for that.”
From Olivia: “This is my favorite thing to do each year. I always ask if I can give a message because I have a lot to say. I lost my leg when I was very young. But I never once let that get me down. I get around just like the cats with four legs. But what I don’t like is when I feel someone look at me and feel sorry for me. I have never felt sad about my life. I am doing great! I am so incredibly lucky! So, if I am not feeling a loss, please don’t feel a loss on my behalf. It is something that I notice humans do. You often focus on what you think is missing instead of what you have. I see so many people with heavy hearts. I try to help lighten their load. But some people just like to continuously look at things negatively. That makes me sad. We want you to see the beauty in imperfection. Feel gratitude for the things you do have. And stop being so angry. It is such a waste of your beautiful energy.”
From Houdini: “I want to tell you a story. I want you to know where I came from because then you will understand why I am deeply grateful. My two friends Harley and Harriett and I all came from a place that brought us great pain and sadness. No one was taking care of us and we watched Harriett in particular struggling to survive. Harley and I stayed with her at all times. We never gave in to despair and we never gave up. We could hardly believe that we made it out of there. But we did. But then we were going to be separated. Harriett and Harley were going to come here to the farm and I was going somewhere else. My heart instantly broke when I saw them leave without me. We promised each other we would never be separated. We fought so hard. I managed to get out of my stall just in time before the trailer was going to leave. When the humans from here saw what was happening, they knew I had to come with them. They heard me! I will forever be grateful that they listened to us. It means everything to me and to the others too. I can rest easy now knowing that we are safe and we are together.”
From Ollie: “I am most grateful for tolerance. You see, I have not always been blessed with the gift of tolerance and have often formed opinions on things too quickly and jumped to wrong conclusions. Sometimes I was not very nice and I don’t think others really liked me either. But the most interesting thing happened. I found some humans and some cats who seemed to tolerate me, even though I wasn’t being my best. That tolerance that they showed to me became a gift that helped me learn to be more tolerant as well. I’m not saying I’m perfect at it. But what I learned is that being intolerant was something I did out of fear of connecting with others. I was afraid of being hurt. I am grateful to learn that the healing I needed was to be connected to others. Hearts are made to love one another. Hatred and intolerance comes from fear and it creates more fear and intolerance. But love creates trust and harmony. That is what I have come here to learn.”
From Harley: “I’m new at this but I wanted to give this a go. I am so grateful to be alive. There was a time I didn’t know if I could survive. But I did. My two friends, Harriet and Houdini, and I found angels that helped us out of the situation we were in. I am forever grateful for the friendship of Harriet and Houdini. We survived by sticking together.All for one and one for all. Nothing will divide the commitment and love we have for one another. We are all very different. But hard times taught us how very much alike we are. We survived because we helped lift each other up. And now, I can tell you how grateful I am to be in a very cute little body that people find irresistible. I love running fast and zooming around in circles. No one runs as fast as me. I am like the wind. I have so much ahead yet to do. I can’t wait to get to it all!”
From Lady Grey: “I am very grateful to know I have a home. Not long ago, I was out on the street desperately looking for help. Someone I cared about just let me outside and left. I didn’t know where to go or what to do. I was lost. I had no food. There were cars everywhere. And people kept chasing me away. Then one lady stopped to help me. I was in bad shape and I knew it. I didn’t know what was going to happen next but I knew it had to be better than where I was. Now look at me. I don’t have to worry anymore. I love my friends. I really love my home here. And I know they will not forget me or cast me away. I have found a place where I belong. For this, I am very grateful and joyful.”
From Coco: “I am often so filled with gratitude that it makes me run around and bray with joy. I want to reach out to those of you who feel misunderstood. You see, I’m sort of a misfit myself. I’m a little different than the other donkeys. At first it made me sad that I didn’t fit in. But then I realized I am totally happy being me. I once held on to heartaches that troubled me deeply and made me less than the donkey that I am. I was grumpy. I was angry. I felt betrayed. But I have learned to set that aside. I am grateful not to carry that load anymore. It didn’t serve me well. But I was a little lost at first without it. Old grudges get to feel comfortable like an old dysfunctional friend. You know it is not good for you but you don’t have the ability to just let go and move on. It took someone to believe in me and listen to my pain for me to realize that it was ok to be happy again. And now here I am today. If you feel burdened with old pain, I’m here to tell you it’s ok to set it down and move on. You don’t need to carry that anymore. You’ll feel a lot better without it.”
From Molly: “If you look at me and the only thing you see is that I have no eyes, then you are not looking at me for who I am. I do not feel sorry for myself at all and I request that no one else feels sorry on my behalf either. I live a very rich and full life. In fact, I daresay that losing my eyesight gave me greater insight and vision on the very heart of life. I can navigate my environment very well. I am not afraid to use my inner vision to explore my outer world. I have learned that I can trust the people around me and the other horses with whom I live to not deceive me. When I first went blind, I was a career pony. And a darn good one too. I didn’t think there could be a life for me outside of the show ring. But I was so wrong. Once I came to the farm here, I met another pony named Annie who became my soul friend. Annie taught me that I could do anything I wanted to. We may have been discarded because we couldn’t live up to a life of being ridden by humans, but there was more to us than that. She believed in me. She was my eyes for me. When she died several years ago, I was sad of course. But I also knew that she lives always in my heart. I can see more through my heart than most of you see through your eyes. I wish you all the gift of inner vision. I can see your beauty through my heart.”
From Sylvester: “It was when I was most lost that I found hope and happiness. Sometimes those darkest times bring us to the greatest places. I am cherished and loved and told each day how important I am. What an amazing thing to be grateful for. My heart is filled with joy every time I am told that I am special.I know I help people get through tough times when they are doubting themselves. I take my role very seriously. But I also like to play and create laughter. It is actually much more fun to be a light of hope in someone’s day. I love doing that. Yes, that is what I’m most grateful for – the chance I have to make someone else feel special.”
From Felix: “Every hour of every day you have a choice to be happy or miserable. I know this because I have made both choices at one time or another. Like when it is pouring rain and miserable outside, and I don’t want to get wet, but I want to go eat some grass, I remind myself how it feels on sunny days. I have a choice to be miserable about the rain, or to know that the rain will end at some point, and once again I can go stand in the sun. These are decisions that seem small but in reality they are quite large and can affect everyone around you. My friend Leo doesn’t like it when I’m miserable. And if I get in a slump, he is there to remind me to think of better things. Leo and I have seen a lot of hard times together. And now our days are filled with so much love and care and happiness. It’s not to say that there won’t be rainy days. But l am always grateful for the sun. And I am forever grateful for my animal and human companions. They always bring the sun out even on a rainy day.”
From Tommy: “I feel like I haven’t seen all that much of life quite yet. I’m a young kid who had a big responsibility to help my brother Timmy. Timmy was born different than me. A lot of the time, he makes no sense. He does strange things. I don’t really understand him. But I was needed to help him and I did the best I could. I’m a little at odds right now. I just lost my new goat friend Princess after she got really sick. Everyone tried to help her. She was very grateful for everything. I learned a lot from her. She helped me to understand that it was ok to just be who I am. And it is also ok for Timmy to be like he is. She used to say to me, ‘See, we’re not as different as it seems. We are all goats just trying to live our best goat lives.’ Princess was very smart like that. I miss her. I may not really be able to help Timmy. But he is my brother and a fellow goat. And I understand things a lot better now. I am grateful for Princess’ wisdom.”
From Mia: “I am grateful for being loved. It feels very good to know I am home and never have to worry about being abandoned again. I have left those days behind me. I walk freely now into seeing beauty all around me. I love the colors of the trees. I love a blue sky. I cherish standing outside in the sun. But I also like the comfort of my stall. I love having my other horse friends in the barn. We are a family. We all share a gratitude for being together. Each of us is different and we respect each other’s differences. That is what makes it all so good. I’ve learned a lot from listening to the donkeys and ducks and chickens. And of course our own very wise goose too! There is so much around us to inspire our hearts. We simply need to share with one another to appreciate each being with gratitude. I will never lose sight of that again.”
From Eloise: “There was a time in my life where I was discarded and forgotten about. It left me feeling very hopeless. But I have a whole new life now. I had 6 babies just after I arrived here on this farm. It meant a lot to me to see and understand that they did not have to endure the life that I did. They have never known a day of hardship or hopelessness. Now, truth is, that if you asked them that however they would think that when their dinner is a little late that they are suffering a hardship. But I know better. One should never lose sight of the things that bring you hope and comfort. These can be little things. A favorite food. Looking at a flower. Laying in the mud on a hot summer day. We all have a life filled with opportunities to be grateful. I’m sure taking note of all of mine.”
From Piper: “I love to answer this question every year. I so look forward to this! You see, people are always astonished when they meet me. I was born without eyes and have never once seen the world the way most of you do. Yet, my world is not dark at all. I am able to sense so many things. I just see them in a way that is unique to me. But I can explore the world in all its wonder and feel that I have everything I possibly could need. I am grateful to feel the sun. I love to hear the rain on summer nights. Nothing is impossible for me to do. I climb to the highest tops of cat trees and run around the room at great speed. I catch toys. I chase balls. Nothing ever stops me from being me. Sometimes those of you with your eyesight seem to fail to see the most important things in your life. I, on the other hand, get to just be one with it all. I am the luckiest cat alive.”
From Mary Beth: “Every second of every day is a moment to be grateful. There is not one breath that I have taken that I have regretted. People tend to feel sorry for me and I really don’t like that. This is me! I am very alive and very happy. And you know what I love best? I love sharing moments with humans. I love when people drop their perception of me and just start petting me and listen to me breathe along with them. They forget that I am not “normal” and get to know who I really am. I love that! I will cherish this life every step of the way. I can never get enough of it. My journey to get here was a long one but it was worth making the trip to come here to this farm. I have found more joy in this lifetime so far than I could imagine. I am blessed. I am grateful. And I am proud to be me.”
From Buster: “I have so much in my life to be grateful for. I have experienced some rough things from people in my past. In fact, I lost my eye because of that and have a lot of problems with my back and legs too. But, I tell you that not so that you will pity me. No, not at all. Because what happened next in my life was amazing. I was healed by the love of someone who just would not give up on me. She stuck with me through all the most difficult parts of my life. She saved me. It was sad when she had to go away and I couldn’t go with her. But, she made sure that I was safe and sent me here. It was a good choice. I try to send her love and messages for her to know that I am doing well and I am happy. I will always be grateful to her. Our hearts will always be connected. I am at peace within myself. I do not hold grudges or hate people as a result of what one person did in the past. I wish humans could learn to forgive and move on as well. I meet so many humans who hang on to anger and hurt until it is now hurting themselves. I am grateful for every single day.”