Happy New Year to you all. Welcome to 2022. Let’s talk about how we can be the purrfect cat mum/dad for our furry friends this year.
I’ll let you in on a secret…I am a recovering perfectionist. Why do I use that term? Because over the years I have come to realise that I put far too much pressure on myself to have everything in life figured out, to be the perfectionist I strive to be.
I’ve had to give in when life gets messy. I’ve had to let my world crumble so I could re-build. And whilst being a completer/finisher and having a painstaking attention to detail, I have allowed my desire for perfection to hold me back, to slow me down and to literally stop me from helping others or making progress.
No more.
I’m going to be 40 towards the end of this year and I have now decided that my best is good enough. My version of perfect is giving it a go, it’s making a start, it’s doing my best.
The more I connect with peeps in the Naturally Cats community the more I am seeing that we are being so hard on ourselves. Not just when it comes to our cats but in other areas of our lives too.
At work, at home, with the kids, friends, family, animals…and more.
Have you ever felt like you’re not doing a good enough job?
Have you ever felt like you should be doing more?
Should. Now that’s another sneaky word that pops into my head a lot.
I ‘should’ be playing with Leo everyday.
I ‘should’ be working harder.
I ‘should’ be doing more.
Do you ever get an attack of the ‘shoulds’?
As an animal communicator and holistic cat therapist I have the capacity to connect with the spirit of cats, their essence, their soul.
One of the most common questions that guardians will have me ask their cat is ‘What more can I do for you?’
Do you know the most popular response I get from the cats? It’s all about us, the humans. It’s about being kinder to ourselves. It’s about being more present, grounded. About slowing down and appreciating what we have and how much love we receive.
I have never yet in my 15+ years of providing holistic cat help had a cat turn round and say ‘you need to work harder, you need to do more, you need to compromise yourself’.
Cats are such a wise species. They are truly present. They live their life fulfilling their needs as and when they arise. Can you imagine if us humans did this?! How different would the world be?
If you can connect to your intuition, your inner knowing, ask yourself this…what do I want?
Not what ‘should’ I do…what do I want?
If you can, open your heart and ask your cat. ‘What do you need from me’? ‘What can I do for you?’
I bet you the answer is related to slowing down, being more present and catching your breath.
When we are truly present with our cats, we can transform our relationship with them. We see them as the individual cat they are, the beautiful soul that lives with us.
How to be the purrfect cat parent…be kind to yourself.
No-one sets out to be a bad cat mum/dad. We are all doing our best. We are all making our decisions with the information available to us in that moment.
We are all purrfect cat mums/dads. It may not feel like it, but I know you are trying hard. I know you are doing your best, and I know that is enough for your cat.
As I say at the end of my calm cats meditation class…Be kind to yourself as you go about your day.
If this blog has resonated with you, please share it.
My mission of #givingcatsavoice is only possible with your help. Share it with a friend, family member or colleague. Introduce a fellow cat lover to the Naturally Cats community.
With love,
Julie-Anne
Image for thumbnail: Photo by Meruyert Gonullu from Pexels
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