Have You Considered What Cats Teach Us About Life?

There is knowledge, and then there is wisdom. We might have an excellent education and a great deal of intelligence, but do we have wisdom? In this area, we could learn much from cats, and what cats teach us about life.

Before starting this post, I collected five references on the subject, and they each had something to add to the list. From the choices, I’ve chosen ten to expand upon. If you want to read the complete references, you will find the links at the end of this post.

Here  you will find the ones I have chosen:

1.) Love — An all-important lesson

First, there is self-love. You must start by loving yourself and believing in your own worthiness. Learning to love yourself can teach you a lot about loving others. Cats have always been adept at self-love.

Turn your love toward those you have bonded with. Once you start on the inside by loving yourself, then you can turn that love outside toward those who mean a lot to you.

When your cat bonds with you, he will find many ways of showing his love to you. Consider this kitty love a precious gift, and return it to him in great measure.

Cats (and dogs, too) can teach us a most important aspect of love. They believe in loving unconditionally. You may do something that distresses your cat greatly, but he will get over it, and still love you just as much as ever.

Unconditional love does not come easily to us humans. We might put a qualifier on our love — “I’ll love you if you do this.” With unconditional love, you will find no limits.

2.) Develop persistence

What do you really want? Focus on it and don’t give up your efforts to try to reach your desire. Cats furnish great role models for persistence, as they never give up if they really want something.

Consider getting the morning meal. If the cat has to get you out of bed to get his meal, he will devise a multitude of ways to reach his goal.

Like the cat, don’t let obstacles in your way discourage you. If you really want something, you can find a way around these roadblocks. This most important lesson from the cat can help you in many ways, both in business and in daily life.

Just remember — focus on your goal and don’t give up.

3.) Foster an independent attitude

Cats get high marks on independence. Granted, the cat who lives in your house has contracted with you to furnish certain necessities, such as food, water, and a warm place to sleep. However, the cat keeps his spark of independence. If he must, he believes he can take care of himself.

Cats seem to realize that they must rely on themselves for many things. They often create their own happy moments. Though they love being with you, they also enjoy time by themselves.

Your kitty doesn’t look to others to tell him what to do. He will leave you in charge, just as long as you don’t interfere with his routine and don’t try to make outrageous changes. Cats are in charge of themselves and understand their own moods, emotions, and needs.

Copy the cat and learn how to take charge of yourself and to become independent.

4.) Learn to live in the now

 This lesson encompasses an important life message. Your kitty seems to understand that all we really have is now, so we might as well enjoy each moment we can. Cats live in the present, not the past or the future. Their focus remains “now.”

We humans seem to have cornered the market on worry. Cats do not worry. They accept what comes and do the best they can with it. Think how nice it would be not to get bogged down in worry. It does not do us any good, and may even affect our health.

Living in the now, the cat also does not think about death. Because he lives, he draws full measure of meaning from the present moment. When death comes, the cat accepts his fate. There comes a time when it becomes most important to let go. Can you do that? Your cat understands and can do so when necessary. 

5.) Always keep your curious spirit

The cat has a great deal of the curiosity trait. He wants to understand what is going on and what makes things happen. He likes to investigate anything new that he finds in his environment.

Do you have that same curiosity? It’s an important trait, as you can learn many new things by your investigations. Cats want to know all about this new thing that has come into their life. By investigating, they might understand.

You need that same habit. Without curiosity, life could become quite a humdrum affair, but when you are always curious and learning new things, you can advance through a much more interesting life.

6.) Get plenty of rest

Since the cat spends more time napping than he spends being awake and active, he has mastered this skill. He realizes the importance of keeping his body rested and ready for whatever life brings his way.

We, too, need our full share of rest. Though we don’t have to spend as much time napping as our kitty, we would be wise if we make sure we get enough sleep.

Sleep has many benefits. For heart health, we need to sleep to keep it functioning properly. To renew our energy, sleep again becomes important. To hone our ability to focus and to remain sharp mentally, sleep gives us the means to enhance those qualities.

7.) Make good grooming a habit

A cat spends quite a few of his waking hours on the all-important task of grooming. He likes to look his best and smell clean, so he takes the time to make sure he has fulfilled this need.

For us, too, if we plan to interact with others, a clean body and freshly laundered clothes have their importance. We make a better impression on those we meet, and we don’t offend by smelling a bit ripe.

Sometimes we work a job that gets us quite dirty, and we can’t help it. However, such a state need only take place temporarily, until we can get home to shower and spruce up.

Very often, we meet someone who is important to us, and we want to make a good impression. Then, appearance can really make a difference. Like the cat, prepare yourself in case such a time comes up in your life. Appearance can prove very valuable.

8.) Cultivate a playful spirit

Don’t become so serious about life that you forget to have fun. Laughter and gaiety can lighten the daily load considerably. Watch children and their spontaneous play. Sometimes they create their own enjoyable little world, pretending any number of adventures.

A cat will usually remain playful all his life. Perhaps he becomes more reserved in his play activity as he ages, but he still enjoys his kitty games.

Imagination is closely linked to play and as we imagine, we can stretch the boundaries of our world. Who can say the cat isn’t using imagination when he stages a mock battle with a sibling or chases a toy mouse on a string?

Playing a stimulating game can bring joy and good feelings to you as well as to your cats.

9.) Honesty promotes self-growth

A cat does not rely on deceit to get what he wants. He tells it like it is and benefits from his truthfulness. 

We have that saying, “honesty is the best policy.” It’s a quote worth keeping, and can become a pillar of our personal beliefs. Too often we can end up in a quagmire of difficulties if we start out using partial truths or untruths to move us ahead. These do not work.

If the cat does not want to do something, or if he does not like something in his environment such as the food you give him, he will make his feelings known. He lets you know where he stands on this issue. Upfront and unafraid, he will express his opinion.

10.) Cats can teach us how to live

Consider the cat as a complete animal. He has the wisdom to focus on the good things in life as often as possible. He has the understanding that life unfolds new challenges each day and offers lots of opportunities to learn and play.

He does not worry — nor does he fret about the future — he lives in the moment and makes good use of the resources available to him. Acting spontaneously, he responds to the stimulus he confronts.

Believing in love, he gives it to those he bonds with, and to other animals (consider a mother and her kittens.) Once he loves, he places no conditions on his love, but forgives easily.

A cat finds contentment in his daily existence. As long as he does not confront danger, his purr expresses his satisfaction with life.

Your kitty loves you for who you are. He does not expect you to change into someone else, but wants you to stay yourself. He has accepted you and finds contentment sharing your life.

We can consider ourselves fortunate to have a cat in our life. Not only do they give us pleasure, but they also give a good example of how to embrace the good things in existence. 

Thank your cat for teaching  you these important life lessons.

Here are the references I used for this post:

https://theodysseyonline.com/10-lessons-learn-from-cats
www.vetstreet.com/our-pet-experts/6-life-lessons-we-can-learn-from-cats
https://care.com/c/15-things-cats-teach-us-about-life
https://huffpost.com/entry/10-things-we-can-learn-from-cats-that-will-make-us-happier-healthier-humans_b_8647868
https://vox.com/future-perfect/21536524/cts-dogs-feline-philosophy-john-gray