In the past year, I’ve visited the Catskill Animal Sanctuary, Clover Brooke Farm, and Frederick Goat Sanctuary, all in New York State. I’ve cuddled with goats, hiked with llamas and alpacas, and sang to pigs. I spend ten hours a week at our city’s animal control center. I mother two ten-year-old cats infamously named Fluffypuss and Peekaboo. And now: eight life lessons I learned from animals.
Show these to your kids. They will be inspired to become better people!
Featured photo above by Victoria Wiley
Aim high with your goals.
As a woman nearing her mid-seventies, I’ve often doubted whether I can continue to have new dreams and goals. One of the most important lessons I learned from animals is that I can continue to pursue meaning and purpose in my life even at my age.
Oh, wait! Eureka! I just came up with some new ideas! Maybe I could lead a reading group for toddlers, twos, and threes at our local shelter. Or a dream salon for high school girls. I can’t wait!
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.
I was in graduate school earning my Master of Science in education. During the first term of my student teaching, my professor informed me that I was unable to set boundaries and expectations for the little kids with whom I was working. “If you don’t improve, I will fail you.”
Devastated and humiliated, I spoke with the pre-k program’s teacher and asked if I could return as a volunteer. This brilliantly gifted and gracious teacher mentored me during the spring term and I returned as a student teacher the following September. Thanks to my commitment to succeed, I ultimately made it through with flying colors.
Appreciate life’s smaller, juicier things.
Careers! Promotions! Broadway! Vacations in the Caribbean! Things of the past for me. I love three-day road trips with my husband, artist Don Perley. Playing badminton with a gang of neighborhood kids in our backyard. Potlucks with our wonderful friends. A movie at our local art house.
Yes, I’m learning to appreciate the small joys of life I’ve missed along the way as a hard-charging career woman. And I love watermelon…see below!
Take care of yourself first so you can help others.
This is the hardest of the eight life lessons I learned from animals. I take showers and brush my teeth, of course, but I’ve been delinquent in my attendance at nail salons. I do keep up on my hair salon visits, but I hate clothes shopping so I shop in my closet.
Fortunately, I’ve been able to observe how diligently Fluffypuss and Peekaboo care for themselves. Now I lick my arms and tummy twice a day and then I take some “me time” by lying in the sun on top of our dining room table and watching the birds.
You’re never too old for a cat nap.
I rarely need to take a nap, but occasionally I indulge myself with a cat nap. One hour in bed with my kitties, all of us warm, cozy, and peaceful.
My favorite part is when Fluffypuss meows in her sweet, squeaky voice and flops over on her belly. She’s inviting me to massage her furry tummy and, when I do, we are connected through love and trust. I’m grateful for a life that allows me to take time to indulge myself and them in this way.
Don’t be afraid to stand tall.
Did you know that standing tall positively affects your mood, self-esteem, and ability to be more effective? I won’t bore you with the many studies out there about this. But you can trust me when I say, “stand tall, my friends.” Stand tall if you’re elderly and are stooping over. Stand tall if you feel small and unseen. Stand tall if you are afraid. And stand tall to stand up for yourself.
Never give up.
If you have a dream of any kind, I urge you to follow it. But I do so with these provisos. Sometimes we realize our dreams as we’ve imagined them. At other times, life requires us to edit them so they are more likely to be realized.
And then there are the times when our hearts and minds tell us we cannot succeed. In that case, try to look deep into your true self, the one untarnished by life, and take it from there. Don’t rely completely on your mind or your emotions. Sometimes they’re just not the real you.
Sunshine is important! Get that vitamin D!
“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey. You’ll never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don’t take my sunshine away.”
Yup, we all need sunlight to warm us and give us a dose of the D. Plus, there’s nothing more satisfying, as we know from cats and other animals, that getting some rays can soothe our souls. So slather on the sunblock, SPF 50, put on your big, floppy hat, and get out there!
