Lessons From A Cat

One night, when I was up late (which may be a part of why this made so much sense to me) I had an encounter with my cat, which really made me think. I promise I am NOT a crazy cat lady or anything, but in those wee hours of the morning, I learned a lesson.

Here's the story: My cat sleeps in my room when I'm at home. He sleeps, I feed him, I let him go outside when he meows at me incessantly  and I let him back in when he paws at my window. It's pretty much the same routine. This night however, I was up late, and my cat seemed to want to leave my room, so I let him out and opened up the front door as I normally do, but this time was different. This time, he just sat there and stared at me (kind of creepy, yes). But then it hit me, I never thought about what my cat actually wanted, I just assumed (sounding more and more like that crazy cat lady I said I wasn't, right?). My cat just wanted to prowl around the house, something I'm sure he hasn't done in months.

This bring  me to my lessons from a cat. We think we know what other people want, we think we know what our loved ones want so much that we don't think about what they ACTUALLY want. We get comfortable and complacent and assume that they want what they usually get, which isn't always the case. We assume they will react a certain way, so we don't tell them or we tailor the message so that we can get the reaction we want, but that's no way to live with someone.

People, and cats, will surprise you, and you should let them. Let them react how they may, let them make their own decisions. Don't be afraid to tell them something because you assume you know what will happen. Let them show their growth and their desires, don't assume you know them so well, because we are ever-changing beings. We are never exactly the same, so to assume we know even our closest friends so well, is a little misguided. We can never know what will happen and we should embrace the unknown with open arms as a place to learn and to love.

All of this from a stare down with a cat, kind of funny, huh?