Cats Should Be Cats

Categories: Uncategorized Dec 08, 2013

I have a cat. It's a house cat. Her name is Whiskers. I've had Whiskers now for almost 4 years. It is the only "real" pet my wife and I were brave enough to let our boys have. In the last year or so, I've started to notice some interesting things about my cat.

Most cats that roam around outside are sleek, agile and athletic. I've noticed that Whiskers is well, she is fat. I know this is mostly my fault. But for the life of me I cannot convince my kids or my wife that Whiskers will not starve if she misses a meal. Anyway, Whiskers is wide around the middle. I have often noticed that when Whiskers wants to jump from the floor to the couch, she hesitates. It is as if she knows that she is not as athletic as she is supposed to be. She actually looks like she is rehearsing the jump in her mind before she jumps.

Whiskers also sleeps - a lot. Most of the day, I can find her in one place, asleep. When she is awake, she is often sitting by a window looking at the squirrels play in the grass. I think Whiskers sleeps so much because she has no life, maybe she is even depressed.

No, I'm not a cat whisperer, but I have recently realized that my cat is not getting to be a cat. Cats were made to explore, roam and hunt. They climb, they run, they jump. My cat doesn't get to do any of these things. In fact, I don't know that my cats feet have ever felt the wonder of a blade of grass. None of this is my cat's fault. It is mine. I have traded my cat's vitality for it's existence.

Why am I telling you about my cat? Because cats are supposed to be cats. AND, people are supposed to be people. My cat is not in control of her freedom, I make most of her choices for her. However, we (people) are in control of our own choices. And often times we choose to live the same life as Whiskers. We choose to exist rather than live. We eat, we sleep, then we do it all over again. When we are "awake", like Whiskers, we watch life happen through the windows of our computer, our tablet, or our TV. Then one day maybe we find our selves doubting if we can step far enough or strong enough to leap over a small rain puddle in a grocery store parking lot. We find ourselves bored, we find ourselves depressed. We begin living a life of "use to could" and "wish I could", instead of living a life of "I can do" and "I will do."

Cats are not the only creations that were made to explore, roam, hunt, climb, run and jump. We were made to do these same things! But sadly, like my cat, many of us will never know, or cannot remember, how wonderful blades of grass can feel between our toes.

If we do not become aware of our choices, our story will be one of tragedy. We, too, are supposed to be athletic, sleek, graceful and powerful. We are supposed to be able to conquer mountains. Yet many of us cannot attack a flight of stairs without concern over our "wind", our hips, or our knees. This is wrong.

It is time to trade back for what we have given away. It is time to trade existence for vitality and life.

How do we do this?

We move. We move like we were created to move. We move often. We move a lot. We move on purpose. We move to explore. We move to play. We move to crawl. We move to walk. We move to climb. We move to run. We simply move. We become what we were created to be: man and woman.

If you find yourself feeling sluggish, feeling weak, feeling "bad", or simply feeling not human, maybe you just need to do what humans are meant to do: Move. If you don't know where to start moving, check out Original Strength. It will help you return remember how to move the way you were made to move. Before you know it, you'll be feeling like a human is made to feel.

And yes, I should probably let my cat outside.

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