Lessons about Life as Taught by a Cat
Though the world fascinates me (and sometimes makes me sad), nothing more intrigues me than human behavior. The complexity of human behavior is reflected in the many theories that are supposed to explain and understand these behaviors. Our behavior and way of life become so complex because we interact with each other. Basically, we are social animals, very similar to dogs. Can life be a little simpler and less complicated if we are less socially interactive (or worse, reactive)? Problems arise whenever people start to interact. The more interaction a person has, the more concerned and insecure he becomes. We have a family cat. Cats are known to be solitary, yet they appear to be contented with life. I know we are not cats. But we should learn from the cats in terms of social interaction.
Our family cat is actually not ours. It just arrived in the house. At first, it is very shy, it seldom feeds when someone is looking. It shies itself away from people and from other cats. It was then a kitten only. Its behavior bothers us, but we continued giving it food. Our own two dogs became curious of it. We started acquainting both dogs, Frodo and Dora, to the small kitten we aptly christened Ingkay. After a time, the kitten, now a small cat, could be seen playing with Frodo and Dora. Frodo, our Doberman, had special bond with Ingkay. He kept on snatching Ingkay through his mouth, which the small cat was so game about. The small cat now has two friends and we have us as its unofficial supporters.
Through time, the small kitten has now grown into a young male cat. Ingkay, as he is known to be, has become so inappropriate a name for him. He has now broaden his circle of friends to include us. Because he feels accepted by the family, he takes the freedom of getting inside the house, well, freely. He has a penchant to sit and sleep by the dining table chairs. He also likes to stay on my bed. What we like about this cat is he never gets his way on food. He knows that he will be feed, so he waits for feeding time. In so many ways, I would like us people to be like cats. Afar, they look so fragile yet so strong when you get to fight with one. They are solitary. They like life to be less complicated. Alike dogs, they can also be man's best friend.
What bothers me with people is that most of them appear to be strong when they are actually not. Most people have brute force but very unwilling spirit. Because we are presented with so many options about life, we don't persevere in one endeavour, but keep on jumping from one choice to another. We are unlike cats. Cats persevere because they feel they are only presented with less opportunities in life. Domesticated cats are the smaller creatures in the whole animal kingdom. They do not occupy a very good position in the animal food chain; however, this has not hampered them to become so cunning about life. They are one of the more intelligent animals(more than humans). They have survived time because they are cunning and persevering. People should be like cats, at least, in spirit.
Cats like to be alone; people like to be with company. Man hates silence. He cannot just take the sound of a deafening silence. He likes to be in a noisy company because he wants to rid himself of his problems. Undoubtedly though and ironically, his problems are caused by his frequent association with supposed to be close acquaintances. We have so many problems, life to us seem so complicated because we lead a life with so many social interactions. We go up and down the social ladder without preparing ourselves for the adventure. We cannot flock with our own feathered friends. We have to flutter outside our comfort circle hoping to flatter others and get flattered in returned. But obviously, this is not correct and all together wrong.
If we only have live our lives like cats in some ways, ours would have been simpler and less discomforting. We could have been more true to oursleves and our capabilities. Let us not pretend who we really are not. Just like a cat, it is better to look so fragile afar yet so ferocious nearby. We only have one life to live; cats have nine, so we better have to clean our act now. In terms of relationship, we could have been more discriminating in our choice of people to associate with. Remember that conflicts arise only with people with whom we have been linked to, one way or another however remotely. Cats are solitary animals, and because they have less contact with other cats, we seldom hear them quarreling (not unless they are in heat and pussies start acting like brute cats again). It would be very hard to be like a cute cuddly pussy. However, if we cannot be one...
Though the world fascinates me (and sometimes makes me sad), nothing more intrigues me than human behavior. The complexity of human behavior is reflected in the many theories that are supposed to explain and understand these behaviors. Our behavior and way of life become so complex because we interact with each other. Basically, we are social animals, very similar to dogs. Can life be a little simpler and less complicated if we are less socially interactive (or worse, reactive)? Problems arise whenever people start to interact. The more interaction a person has, the more concerned and insecure he becomes. We have a family cat. Cats are known to be solitary, yet they appear to be contented with life. I know we are not cats. But we should learn from the cats in terms of social interaction.Our family cat is actually not ours. It just arrived in the house. At first, it is very shy, it seldom feeds when someone is looking. It shies itself away from people and from other cats. It was then a kitten only. Its behavior bothers us, but we continued giving it food. Our own two dogs became curious of it. We started acquainting both dogs, Frodo and Dora, to the small kitten we aptly christened Ingkay. After a time, the kitten, now a small cat, could be seen playing with Frodo and Dora. Frodo, our Doberman, had special bond with Ingkay. He kept on snatching Ingkay through his mouth, which the small cat was so game about. The small cat now has two friends and we have us as its unofficial supporters.
Through time, the small kitten has now grown into a young male cat. Ingkay, as he is known to be, has become so inappropriate a name for him. He has now broaden his circle of friends to include us. Because he feels accepted by the family, he takes the freedom of getting inside the house, well, freely. He has a penchant to sit and sleep by the dining table chairs. He also likes to stay on my bed. What we like about this cat is he never gets his way on food. He knows that he will be feed, so he waits for feeding time. In so many ways, I would like us people to be like cats. Afar, they look so fragile yet so strong when you get to fight with one. They are solitary. They like life to be less complicated. Alike dogs, they can also be man's best friend.
What bothers me with people is that most of them appear to be strong when they are actually not. Most people have brute force but very unwilling spirit. Because we are presented with so many options about life, we don't persevere in one endeavour, but keep on jumping from one choice to another. We are unlike cats. Cats persevere because they feel they are only presented with less opportunities in life. Domesticated cats are the smaller creatures in the whole animal kingdom. They do not occupy a very good position in the animal food chain; however, this has not hampered them to become so cunning about life. They are one of the more intelligent animals(more than humans). They have survived time because they are cunning and persevering. People should be like cats, at least, in spirit.
Cats like to be alone; people like to be with company. Man hates silence. He cannot just take the sound of a deafening silence. He likes to be in a noisy company because he wants to rid himself of his problems. Undoubtedly though and ironically, his problems are caused by his frequent association with supposed to be close acquaintances. We have so many problems, life to us seem so complicated because we lead a life with so many social interactions. We go up and down the social ladder without preparing ourselves for the adventure. We cannot flock with our own feathered friends. We have to flutter outside our comfort circle hoping to flatter others and get flattered in returned. But obviously, this is not correct and all together wrong.
If we only have live our lives like cats in some ways, ours would have been simpler and less discomforting. We could have been more true to oursleves and our capabilities. Let us not pretend who we really are not. Just like a cat, it is better to look so fragile afar yet so ferocious nearby. We only have one life to live; cats have nine, so we better have to clean our act now. In terms of relationship, we could have been more discriminating in our choice of people to associate with. Remember that conflicts arise only with people with whom we have been linked to, one way or another however remotely. Cats are solitary animals, and because they have less contact with other cats, we seldom hear them quarreling (not unless they are in heat and pussies start acting like brute cats again). It would be very hard to be like a cute cuddly pussy. However, if we cannot be one...
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