Lifelong Learning: Unconditional love

My cat and I are watching TV as I write this. She loves sitting on me or near me, she sleeps on my head and is forever coming up to me and asking me to pet her. Sweetest cat ever. The ironic part of this whole thing is that from the time I was born until about 6 years ago, I have been extremely allergic to cats. Because of this, I really didn’t like cats even though we grew up with one. Being allergic and having a cat in the house really wasn’t hard, as our cat was really my mom’s cat and she pretty much kept to herself. Additionally, for most of my young life my room was in the basement and the cat hung out upstairs. After the cat died, we never got another cat.

Fast forward to 2017 when my oldest daughter got a cat. She kept and still keeps her cats extremely clean which helped my allergies a lot. Fast forward a bit more and we had a stray literally adopt us. We opened the front door one day and in walked the sweetest cat ever. We tried to find her owner and when we didn’t we ended up keeping her and of course, unbeknownst to us, she was pregnant. She had 5 little amazing kitties, one with a disability. I bottle fed that one. Yada yada. I now not only love cats but they love me and my allergies are legitimately gone, without shots or pills or anything. In the last few years it’s as if my immune system decided I needed these creatures. With COVID and everything going on, it’s crazy that I “lost” my allergy to cats and gained some much-needed love. Pets do that. They love you unconditionally and usually most when you need it.

The moral of this reflection is simple: I had developed a wall, a bad feeling, a prejudice against cats because it was uncomfortable, it was hard and it was easier to dislike or ignore than to deal with my allergies. It was easier to blame the cats in a way I guess. Thankfully, not due to anything I did, I was and am fortunate to have another shot at this: I get to experience the love and companionship of these amazing creatures. The same is true of our dogs. My daughter’s dogs could not be more excited to see me when I come over. If I haven’t seen them “since yesterday”, they act as if it’s been a lifetime since our last visit. They make me feel so loved regardless of my day. I could’ve had the worst day, the best day or a mediocre day. They don’t care. They just love grandma! They make me feel good about myself.

Animals just want to show love and receive love. This should be our standard and expectation for ourselves and the people in our lives. None of us is perfect however, none of us deserve anything less than unconditional love. We don’t need to accomplish certain things in order to be loved. The word unconditional means unquestioning, unlimited, unrestricted and not subject to any conditions. We need to love ourselves and those around us with the same level that animals love us. If you are unsure exactly what this looks like, just think about how much they love seeing you come home from anywhere, tails wagging at the window, or going for car rides or licking and cuddling you. Look in their eyes. They are content just BEING around you. We should be this excited to see each other, to talk to each other and to support and love each other in good times, in bad times and in mediocre times.

Anatole France said, “Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” I hope you are lucky enough to experience this kind of love, not just with animals, but with children, with family and with friends. We have but one life to live and we need to live it to the fullest. Our animals are not with us as long as most of our people are. While their time is shorter, the lesson they teach us about loving all creatures unconditionally is so, so valuable and we need to listen and live it every chance we can. Have the best day ever.

 

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