What I’ve Learned from My Pets

As I write this, I have a cup of coffee on my right, a cat perched on my left, a dog lounging on my feet, and another cat relaxing lazily behind my laptop. They are all on the verge on their mid-morning nap and I sit back, watching their eyes flutter shut, a content look on all of their faces. They are at peace, unaware of my deadlines, family drama, or my ever-decreasing bank account. I scratch the left cat’s ears and she meows happily, but gives me a look of dissatisfaction for my interruption during her dozing. I laugh and I wake the rest of the pets up. They all walk away: the cats to their individual relaxing places, and the dog to her bed. Why does this matter? This is a picture perfect scene that happens almost every morning, but what makes it important? What could my pets possibly be teaching me?

In my short life, I have learned many things. Granted, I still have more to learn, but there are a few things I’m sure of. Our pets love us unconditionally, without limits: we are their purpose in life. You can see it in their loving glances, wagging tails, and feel it on their cold noses. Without knowing it, our pets are teaching us that love and kindness is a universal concept that we should apply to our everyday lives. Dogs may embody this more than cats, but it’s the same across the board: love comes without cost. Make sure you take the time to return that same, unconditional love to your pets. Play with them, take them for walks, give them treats, and treat them like the treasures they are.

Our pets also teach us that relaxing isn’t terrible. They do it all the time! If it’s not relaxing, it’s taking time for yourself. Sometimes life gets a little hard, so take a breather and just sit. No distractions. Your pet may want to join you, which is fine, because it can be therapeutic just to pet them. Live life to your best ability, to the fullest you can. Plan that vacation or road trip. Take the weekend to recuperate with your pets—they’re experts at it, after all! They also teach us determination. Whenever our pets want something, they try their hardest to get it; why can’t we do the same? Try something new. Get that promotion. Enjoy life to the fullest. Never stop chasing your laser pointer, whatever it may be. While your pet may never catch it, you may be able to catch yours.

They may not know it, but our pets have a huge impact in our life. They are quite literally, our children, and just as they learn from us, we learn from them. Sometimes the lessons are hard, but they stick with us and make us better than we were before. They teach us responsibility, love, determination, relaxation, and happiness, among other things. We are lucky to have our pets in our lives—they are quite literally, a blessing in disguise.