My cat is such a diva. She literally thinks she owns the place.
No matter where I am in the house, or what I am doing, she wants to be right there.
She'll climb right up on my desk while I am working, plop down on the papers I am trying to read, walk all over my kitchen countertops, run under my feet when I am cooking, and just generally invade every space I am in.
The other night, she was actually chasing me around and grabbing at my legs while I was heading up to bed. It was pretty hilarious.
She's a silly girl.
But I love her more than anything.
She was a rescue we found at the humane society nearly two years ago now. The boys and I were looking for a cat and she came right up to us when we got there, rubbing against our legs, playful and vocal.
We knew right away that she belonged at our home.
It's amazing to me the connection we can feel with our animals. They become such a part of our lives.
And the sad part is that we have so few years with them, much fewer than most of the humans we love.
But we do it anyway.
We take them in and we enjoy the few years we can have.
Because they bring us joy.
The unconditional love they give, the excitement they show us when we come home, the comfort they offer when we need someone to just be there for us without judgment; it's all so powerful.
I think that's why they were put on this earth.
Sometimes, after a really long day, we just want to come home and sit in the quiet and just be.
Animals are perceptive and they sense that, they can tell when we need to be comforted.
They instinctively come to us and sit in our lap and allow us to pet them and they somehow know that this makes us feel better.
Relating to human beings is different. It can be difficult, especially when they all have an opinion to offer and advice to give.
The thing with humans is that we either try too hard or we don't try hard enough. Our instincts just aren't the same. We struggle to love so unconditionally.
If only we realized that we could take a lesson from our animals.
We might just figure out that the way to relate to each other is actually quite simple:
Always be excited to see your people when they get home (I'm talking jump around and maybe sometimes pee a little because you just love them so much)
When your people are sad, just sit with them quietly. They'll know you are there and feel comforted by your presence.
And no matter what, always be around when they need you, even if they seem annoyed because you are under their feet. They'll look back and be grateful that you were there.
I doubt that humans will ever evolve enough to be as smart as our pets when it comes to relating to each other.
But I think we could strive to be just a tiny bit more like them.
And if that happens, I truly believe that we could change the world.
Or at least make a few more people smile.
And that's pretty much the same thing.