Oh To Be Like My Pets

We are in the middle of summer, it is hot outside (and inside with no air conditioning) and we are still in the middle of trying to figure out the best way to live our lives with our new normals. Some of us have had to get used to being at home more because there just isn’t enough work at our jobs right now. Others of us are working so much we are starting to wonder how long we can keep our candles burning at both ends. Those of us with kids are starting to realize that maybe just maybe our kids are not at good as their teachers said they were when classes were normal. Our pets are realizing that their owners are not as good as they were led to believe. Some of us have gained some weight we don’t really want to have while others have lost the weight and gained the muscle. New hobbies have been started and books have been finished, it is the way life has to be so that we can keep having our lives, so why is it so hard to accept the changes?

We don’t like change. Plain and simple. The things we are asked to do are a change to what we would normally do in our lives. This goes for everything. If we are told to wear a mask when normally we would not have to we balk at it and complain about how hard it is to breath and do our everyday activities. We are told that the school year might look different due to new safety regulations set in place to keep our kids healthy and we complain about how hard it will be for us parents to deal with our kids at home. Our jobs are doing all they can to keep up with sanitary regulations that have been made requirements to stay open, and we complain that we have to wash our hands more and clean more. I think the only creatures that are not complaining about the changes are our pets. They live to be with us, so these new normals are heavenly for them. Honestly maybe we should take our cues from them, it might just make our days that much better.

I have two pets in my house. Jorj my dog and Lilly my cat. I really think their sole jobs all day long are to make sure my furniture doesn’t float away to oblivion. Jorj starts his day with a really long stretch and a shake of his head while he waits for me to get ready for our walk we do every morning. Lilly starts her day walking over the top of my husband and I to make sure we are alive enough to fill her water cup and food bowl. If their morning routines were to change in any way it would not bother them in the least just as long as at some point the food bowls were filled and their heads were scratched. It’s almost as if they have a built in “go with the flow” program. Throughout the day Jorj is content to be outside with us laying in the sun or playing with is ball in the water. Lilly being a bit more of a introvert is happy to warm our pillows for us, by taking one of her many cat naps. Both have no clue that there are big changes happening in their owner’s lives, they just keep living their lives doing what they do best.

Now imagine what would happen if our pets started to act like us every time something in their routine changed. How would we deal with them? Would we give them as much grace as they give us when we act the way we act when change happens in our routines? A while back I listened to a podcast that dealt with having to adapt to the changes all around us. The takeaway message I received was this: Focus on what is around you, what is within your immediate circle. Deal with what you can deal with and don’t worry about what is going on in places farther from you. In it’s simplest form be like your pets. They deal with what is going on right in front of them. They focus on their family members, they eat when they need to eat, play when they need to play and they are the masters of sleeping even when they don’t really need to sleep. Now I know we as humans have a bit more responsibilities than our pets do. We have to keep an eye on what is going on all around us but that doesn’t mean we need to react to it all the time. Sometimes we stay silent only because there is already too much noise going on around, and there is no point in adding to it.

So how do we become more like our pets? First and foremost we have to remember that it all comes down to how we react to what is going on in front of us. This past Sunday I was a bit more tired than I usually am so instead of being grumpy, I took a nap. The school district had a parent meeting to give us information on how the school year will play out for our kids. We give them grace and forge ahead because they are trying to do all they can to keep kids safe and still give them a good education. Business owners are trying to keep their doors open so they ask that we sanitize our hands wear masks and be patient with them if they have to take extra precautionary measures to sanitize their places of businesses. We give them our patience and appreciate what they are trying to do. People are being asked to be treated as equals so we forge ahead to show love by giving love and educating ourselves. When we focus on what we can influence, we will start to see that living like our pets isn’t so hard after all. Show more compassion, more love and maybe even try smiling that much more and see how these small acts will cause changes that we want to have. Until next time:

Love is patient and kind.  Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.  it doe not demand its own way.   It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.  it does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.  Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7