Sunday Purrs: Accept What Is

Sunday Purrs| 12 Comments

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There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. – William Shakespeare, Hamlet

One of the greatest sources of unhappiness is the inability to accept things as they are. Accepting what is, without wishing things were different, can trip up even the most serene among us. And yet, accepting what is is the key to living a positive, present life.

Accepting what is, like so many things, is about living in the moment. It’s about looking at the present moment without judgment. In order to live in the moment, you have to be willing to look at this present moment and say “this is what is real right now.”

Does this mean you shouldn’t want things to change? Not at all. But if you want things to change, Continue Reading

Sunday Purrs: Listen to Your Body

Sunday Purrs| 6 Comments

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Guest post by Angie Bailey

I find I often make choices based on my schedule or to-do list instead of listening to my body’s wisdom. I’m pretty certain I’m not alone in this one. Sometimes choices based on schedules and lists are necessary – I’d certainly never blow off a job interview because I felt like I needed a nap; however, within the times of the day that really are flexible (despite what my planner pad says), I can certainly adjust my activities.

A cat is a master at listening to what his body needs and promptly taking care of those needs. When he’s hungry, he eats (if he’s freely fed, of course). When he’s tired, he has no qualms with curling up and snoozing until his body says it’s time to awaken. When he feels stiff or achy, he stretches. And when he feels playful, he plays! He isn’t ruled by some schedule that tells him he must wake up at a certain time and has to stop birdwatching to bat a jingle ball for a few minutes.

I, on the other hand, feel sometimes like I’m a slave to my schedule. Continue Reading

Sunday Purrs: Appreciate Life in the Face of Darkness

Sunday Purrs| 30 Comments

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In the wake of the Boston bombings, many of us are still struggling with processing the horror of what happened, sharing the collective grief of  a nation whose peace was once again disrupted by an act of terrorism, and trying to make sense of something that is completely senseless. Even people who were thousands of miles away from Boston, and who weren’t worried about family or friends, found themselves filled with sorrow and hopelessness about a world where these tragedies can happen.

How do you find your center in the middle of so much darkness and turmoil? Is it even possible?

On Monday evening, I posted this on The Conscious Cat Facebook page: “Our hearts go out to everyone affected by the senseless attacks in Boston. Please keep the victims and their families in your thoughts and prayers, and hug your kitties for some comfort!” At times like this, we all hold our family and friends a little tighter, and for most of us, our cats are family. And spending time with cats is certainly one of the best ways I know to help us pull out of sadness and despairContinue Reading

Sunday Purrs: Get Over It

Sunday Purrs| 13 Comments

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Life’s disappointments can knock the wind out of the best of us, and sometimes, it seems like we’ll never get over some of the bad things that happen. As humans, our tendency can be to continue to bring up our painful past, rather than working on healing the pain and moving on with our lives.

Cats don’t do this. They live in the moment. They don’t dwell in the past and constantly revisit it, nor do they use the past as an excuse for not being happy in the present. This is particularly evident with cats who were rescued from marginal or abusive circumstances. It is humbling to be loved unconditionally by an animal coming from a rough beginning. While some of these cats may initially be cautious around humans, most of them adjust quickly once they find their forever home and a person who is willing to be patient and allow the bond between cat and human to develop slowly so that it can turn into trust and eventually love. Cats do not allow their early life experiences to define them the way so many humans do.

So why is it so hard for humans to just “get over it?”Continue Reading

Sunday Purrs: The Platinum Rule

Sunday Purrs| 17 Comments

Allegra close up

We’ve all heard of The Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Many of us strive to live by this rule. It implies the basic assumption that other people would like to be treated in exactly the same way you would like to be treated.

Then there’s The Platinum Rule: “Treat others the way they want to be treated.”

Think about it for a moment. The Golden Rule is all about you: you simply assume that everyone should want what you want, and you’re going to treat them accordingly. It’s all about control. This was brought home to me the other day, when Allegra gave me one of her rare lap times. Allegra is a supersweet, affectionate cat, but she does not like to sit in my lap, nor does she like to be held. As a result, the times when she does make one of her rare lap appearances are extra special. Continue Reading

Ruby’s Reflections: If I Had Thumbs…

Ruby's Reflections| 14 Comments

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Hi everyone, it’s Ruby! The other day, Mom left the computer on with YouTube up on the screen, so Allegra and I watched a bunch of silly cat videos that made us laugh. But when we watched the famous British Cravendale Milk commercial titled “If Cats Had Thumbs” (see below) it really got me thinking! The things I could do….

If I had thumbs, I would never have to wait for Mom to feed us – I could figure out how to open the refrigerator, get our raw food out, take the lid off the container, and Allegra and I would be set. (Yes, I would share with my big sister!). No waiting for Mom to mix everything up for us. No waiting for measly little portions. I would control how much we eat!

If I had thumbs, I could get the treat bag out of the cabinet whenever I wanted! That would be so cool!Continue Reading

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Sunday Purrs: Allegra on Living in the Moment

Allegra's World, Sunday Purrs| 12 Comments

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I don’t understand why humans have such a hard time with what they call “living in the moment.” To us cats, it’s just living. Where else would you be, if not in this present moment? That’s where all the good stuff happens: it’s where the sunbeams are, it’s where the birds outside the window are, it’s where breakfast and dinner are. Why would you ever want to worry about what’s going to come next, or think about what already happened?

When we want to play, we play. When we want to nap, we nap. When we want to cuddle, we cuddle. I know humans have what they call “responsibilities,” the most important one, of course, being that they make sure we never run out of cat food, and I’ll concede that that requires some planning, but I thought I’d give you some pointers on how you can be more like a cat and enjoy the moment.