What I Learnt from My Pet
By: Arul Velan
Tags: Values, Pets, Cats, Lessons Learned, Short Read

5 classic lessons which made me a better person

Photo by Timothy Meinberg on Unsplash

Many people turn to historical figures, celebrities, sportsmen, family and friends for inspiration. And this inspiration turns to motivation to seek success in life.

Some flip page after page- reading about historical figures on what their history will teach them on how to succeed in business, life or even love. And I have done this as well. Quite often to be honest.

But today, I am not going to discuss about them. They have been discussed by many and I am not going to bore you with their wisdom. However, I have to come to realise that another motivational figure was sitting right here in my living room — in his favourite pet condo. Yes, I am talking about my pet. To be precise, I am talking about my cat.

My 7-years-old cat, Pipey, taught me to look at life through a different lens.

Be a fighter- Pipey

#1 Become a fighter

We have all read and heard of so many people who have fought throughout their lives — punched through adversity to live and survive in this unforgiving world. There have been numerous personalities who have wrote a multitude of biographies, highlighting their suffering and pain to be who they are today. And many a times, we have taken that with a pinch of salt — the author is exaggerating the pain so that we will feel strongly for him. In reality, that may or may not be the case.

I do not know that author or that personality personally. But I know my cat. I took him in when I married my wife. I sat with her to listen to the stories about Pipey.

Pipey is a fighter who was separated from his parents at a very young age — probably lost his siblings as well. Parents dead. Siblings dead. And kittens when they lose their parents or get separated from them do not live long. In most cases, they cannot survive without their parents. But in this case, Pipey survived — roaming the neighbouring estates in Singapore in search for food and water. One day, he came across my brother-in-law at the lift when things changed for him.

#2 Take a leap of faith

My brother-in-law and his family were in the lift. The door has not closed yet. And on the other side of the door was the kitten. Pipey. At that moment, my brother-in-law had his two beautiful daughters and brilliant pregnant wife in the lift with real-world problems (like grocery lists, electricity bills and mortgage loans) racing through his mind. And having a pet was the least of his concerns and he definitely did not want to add another real-world “problem” into his list of worries. So he told his family that if the kitten jumps into the lift, we will take him in. Pipey, in his own thoughts at that time, definitely did not understand English.

But at that moment, feeling the energy coming from the whole family, literally decided to make the leap of faith and jumped into the lift before the door closed on them. And that jump changed his life.

#3 Explore and own your comfort zone

Pipey moved from my brother-in-law’s place to my mother-in-law’s place. New environment. New people. Apprehensive at first, he got out from his little paws from his huge cage and started exploring his new home. He looked around for any dangers. He looked for comfort zones in the house. He found places in the house where he felt absolutely safe and laid there for hours, showing his belly to the world (Cats only show their belly when they feel absolutely safe).

He began to like his surroundings and this comfort zone gave him peace. Safety and security is not exclusive to just humans but it extends to the animal world as well. And this comfort zone gave him happiness as he owned that space.

#4 Get out of your comfort zone

Pipey has once seen the outside world- where he roamed for days without proper food and water. No security. And at times, no proper shelter to sleep. But things are different now. He has a home. He has a comfort zone and people to take care of him — to feed him at the right time and clean his poop and pee. Now, why would a pampered cat like this want to step out of his newfound kingdom? He has everything now.

But Pipey dared to step out. He jumped between the gaps of the metal gate to explore the outside corridor. At that moment, all the horrid memories of the past might have hit him like an avalanche. It did not matter. He made the first step to step out. No turning back now. He was willing to take on the challenges that await him. He will take his glory with humility or his mistake will teach him a lesson. Either way, he decided with that paw out of the door that he will get out of the comfort zone.

#5 No shame in asking for help

When Pipey stepped out of the house, not every day was met with glory. Some days were riddled with mistakes. And I will talk about one such mistake that Pipey will never forget.

One fine day, he was roaming around the neighbouring blocks. It was one of his hunting adventures. A hunting adventure that went wrong. One lousy misstep landed him inside a larger-than-life garbage bin. He fell in and was stuck. This was one problem where he cannot jump out of. He started calling for help. A couple of days went by. He tried to jump out himself — but could not. He continued to call for help. He felt that his ‘meows’ fell on deaf ears. But he didn’t give up. He continued calling for help.

And one day my mother-in-law, who was returning from the market, heard his wails. She rushed towards the garbage bin. He recognised her voice and his wails got louder. With whatever energy he still had, he jumped up as high as he can so that my mother-in-law could catch him.

At that moment, Pipey realised that his call for help had saved him. He made a mental note to be careful with his steps and never to be shy to call for help — when help is needed.

Now, these are the lessons my pet had taught me. Take a break from the screen and look at the pet sitting beside you. Now, what lesson did your pet teach you?