Beyond the window
Experiential learning is far more powerful than
gathering information. Experience is emotional — and emotion, not rationality,
is what changes mindsets and behaviors.
I have always been a good cat. Judy tells me I am the best cat in the entire world. Well, except that one time. She pretends to have forgotten, but I know she never will.
It was dark outside, a time when cats like to prowl. I growled and spat at the front door, defending our territory against some Millennial Cat who thought he should be able to just move into my pad, and that we would feed him Temptation treats and he could rub his furry rear end all over my mom and the rest of my things.
I body slammed against the heavy security screen which separated us. Screaming at him, I told him to take his lazy, entitled
attitude on down the street.
He screeched back, threatening to call PETA
and social services and every other liberal program that had told him he was
deserving of everything his meowing furry ass desired.
That’s
when it happened. Judy stepped into the heated cat fight. She stepped up behind
me. “Me, too!” she yelled, “I want you
out of here!”
I
became confused and flew across the space that separated me from Judy. I flung
myself against her leg, sinking my teeth
into her flesh. Her muscles flexed in reaction and she shouted, this time at me. “Hey!”
Surprise
shot through me. I released my bite hold. What had I done? I had attacked her. I had went off, like a gun. She stood there a moment, frozen in place, staring at me. “Sportster?" She said. I will never forget the look on her face.
And then she limped over to a chair.
I sensed her confusion and disappointment in me. I
ignored the Millennial Cat outside, who was the root of the incident, and I proceeded to rub up against Judy, gushing out purrs of apology. A long time passed before she ever told
me she had forgiven me. I didn’t really
believe her, probably because I had
trouble forgiving myself. I love Judy. I was so ashamed of what I had done.
In
a rush to do what we think is the right thing, sometimes we make mistakes.
Other times there is no opportunity to consider the options, we just have to go
into action. How do we live with the
consequences when, in retrospect, that decision turns out bad?
I learned to accept that we
all do the best we can. Guilt is a wasted emotion. –– I must move past what I considered to
be a horrible mistake. I must believe there are no mistakes in the universe.
Everything happens exactly as it should.
The
followers of this Eastern principle of
spirituality believe there is no room in life, if you want to live at peace,
for would haves, should haves, or could haves.
Judy says, “ If pigs had wings, they could fly.” Her other favorite ‘whatever quote’, which
she tells me her mother used to say to her is, “ One hundred years from now,
who will know the difference?”
In other words, don’t
look back. What is over is over. No
regrets and no fear of moving forward.
Sure, I make mistakes, everyone does. It is my cat nature to never admit them out loud, but I must come to terms with what I have done. I agree with the East Indian principle of spirituality. The philosophy makes sense in this cat's mind. i do the best that I can. I am not going to become stale and afraid to make a mistake.
Sure, I make mistakes, everyone does. It is my cat nature to never admit them out loud, but I must come to terms with what I have done. I agree with the East Indian principle of spirituality. The philosophy makes sense in this cat's mind. i do the best that I can. I am not going to become stale and afraid to make a mistake.
“The better a man is, the more mistakes
will he make ––for the more new things
he will try. If you have not made mistakes, and big ones at that, you will
surely be mediocre.” Peter Drucker
Please check out my first book, ACTIVATE LION MODE, book one in The Feline Fury Series. Help me to carry the life saving message of this powerful book.
Besides, my treats are running low.
Book One of the Feline Fury Series
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