Happiness Lesson from a Cat
I have four cats that fill my life with laughter. One of the things I love about them is that they are always ready to PLAY!
Even if they’re not feeling well, even if they’re tired, even if they’re in the midst of a great nap – all I have to do is crinkle a sheet of cellophane or drag a piece of string past their noses and they are instantly on their feet and ready for action.
Even better, they don’t wait for fun to come to them; they seek it as often as possible.
If I leave a crumpled ball of aluminum foil on the kitchen counter, it will most certainly travel the entire length of the house and end up under my bed. I constantly find the plastic rings from new milk containers in the oddest places, and every room of our home looks like a mouse massacre took place (luckily these are fake catnip mice, not real ones!).
The other night I was working late in my office when I heard a racket in the bathroom across the hall.
I went to see what was going on and turned on the light to find one of my cats gleefully tossing an empty Dixie cup into the air and playing “hockey” with it on the bathroom floor.
We can learn a lot from these inquisitive, playful creatures!
“Oh, sure -” you’re probably thinking, “cats can afford to be playful! They don’t have a demanding job; they don’t have obligations; they don’t have any stress to speak of. I’d play too if I lived such a cushy life!”
I won’t deny that life can be stressful – but playfulness is much more about our attitude than our activities. Okay, so maybe we don’t want to toss around an empty Dixie cup or chase a strand of string. But do we have to take life so seriously all the time?
One of the greatest secrets to happiness is having control over where you place your focus 99% of the time. Sure, there is a time for work. There is a time to be serious. There may even be a time to be stressed. But shouldn’t there also be a time for play?
There are really two ways to approach this playfulness thing:
1) Make more time for play
You can get into the habit of doing things you enjoy, things that make you laugh and feel good – or even things that stimulate your mind. Even if your life is very busy, you can certainly find 30 minutes here and there to do something fun.
2) Bring playfulness into everything you do
You can also make an effort to be more playful as you’re going about your regular activities. You can sing silly songs while you’re driving to an interview, or make up funny stories in your mind about the interesting people you see during your daily travels. Play word games while you’re washing the dishes. Set a timer to see how fast you can clean the bathroom. Joke with your colleagues during the workday.
In the end it doesn’t matter HOW you play, just that you adopt that playful attitude that is virtually guaranteed to make you feel happier in one way or another. And remember I have plenty of empty Dixie cups if you need one!
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=8438d4d9-a12b-4a26-87cc-f54318d9eaaf)
