Over on the Middle Zone Musings and The High Calling, they are asking what I learned from animals. The first thing I thought of was the tortoise and the hare, but I am not sure I can really claim to have learned that lesson yet. So instead, here is a lesson from a cat.
Cats can do some pretty amazing things. They can hunt, leap amazing distances, climb the side of buildings, see in the dark, work all night and play all day, and if you drop them upside down, they will still land on their feet. But if this was all that they did, they would be no better than a monkey or an octopus. They would be interesting to watch, but they would not be pets. What makes cats really special is that they will sit on your lap and let you pet them. They will rub their head and neck against your ankles until you notice they are there and at least pretend that they like you.
I am not particularly talented, but I have learned to do a lot of neat tricks. I can install printers, re-write software so that it actually works, build functional websites that are at least not ugly, and even check the oil in a vehicle, but the one thing that I will be remembered for, the one thing that will have any lasting impact, is the time that I spend with people.
I love being around people, and I love talking to people, but I tend to get distracted by things I am trying to do to “help” them. I am constantly looking for ways to help people to show them how much I like them. The problem is that projects are time consuming and take me away from the people I want to be around in the first place.
Not only can projects keep you from giving the gift of time, but the results sometimes do not turn out so well. The last piece of this lesson is to make sure the project you are doing for someone, or the gift you are giving is one that the receiver would actually appreciate. Have you ever received the gift of a dead bird? Think of all the effort your cat expended in an attempt to please you. How thoughtful! After all, it is the thought that counts. Right?
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Luke, an excellent point! I guess it’s easy to get caught up in our own efforts to the point where we sorta forget to consider the recipient. Not good. Thanks for adding a great lesson to the lot this month!
Cheers!
Robert
The more people you make feel important, the more important you become.
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Luke,
Great post and good point. We should always be grateful for gifts bestowed upon us–even if it wasn’t quite what we were expecting. Thanks for sharing!
Lisa
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I love your ending point about the gift of the dead bird. It was a real attention getter and certainly illustrated your lesson.
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The only thing my cat has taught me is beg for something enough, and you will get it ;-p.
Seriously though, nice points in the post.