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Going with the Flow
by Nancy Pritchard, December, 2008
Do you think you can take over the universe and improve it?
I do not believe it can be done.
Tao Te Ching, verse 29
I'm a natural-born planner. I really can't control my innate desire to live by a plan - it's just part of my wiring. My birthday happens to fall on September 4th, and I'm a true Virgo through and through -- very organized, very detail-oriented, always a person with an action plan. Six weeks ago, my most recent plan began to take shape. It was an 'adopt a new kitten' plan to be precise.
My youngest child is currently a senior in high school, and as such I thought this year would be the perfect year to add a little bundle of love (and fur) to our soon-to-be empty nest. My original plan was to adopt a kitten into our household of three adult people (our oldest son is living on his college campus) and two adult cats. Much to my delight, my friend and fellow Fire Sister, Jaqui McMillan, fit perfectly into the equation. Jaqui's newly adopted stray cat had delivered a litter of seven kittens in September. So during an October visit to Jaqui's house, I chose a beautiful gray striped kitten to join our family.
I was feeling very good about how things were going. Most of us feel good when our plans are falling together perfectly. Three days before the new kitten was to be picked up, however, I learned that while I'd been busy making my plan, the Universe had been making other plans.
"Hi Nancy!" the November 5th email from Jaqui began, "I don't mean to influence your decision in any way, but I felt I needed to let you know what's been happening with the kittens lately. Your gray kitten and the smallest black kitten have developed a very special bond. They play together all the time. As a matter of fact, another couple was thinking about adopting the little black kitten, but since she was constantly playing with your little gray, they just couldn't split them up. I'm sure that if you adopt only the gray kitten, everything will turn out fine, but I just thought you should know how much they enjoy each other and…" Jaqui's email continued, but to be honest at that point I had stopped reading.
Now something you must understand about Jaqui is that she is NOT a dishonest person in any way; therefore I knew that she would never tell me this kitten love story just to try to manipulate me into taking an extra cat.
And so I did what I usually do when I'm initially faced with an unforeseen situation. I panicked! I groaned loudly as I closed AOL and stepped away from my computer. "Four cats?" I exclaimed to myself. "I can't split up the siblings! But I don't want four cats either! Only crazy people have four cats! I mean, owning three cats is already pretty crazy. But…FOUR CATS?? That is NOT my plan!" Needing to have someone else to share the distressing news with, I hesitantly shared Jaqui's email with my husband, Carl - who appropriately exclaimed, "Oh no! We're going to have FOUR CATS?!" That night I talked with my extended family on the phone (even my sister thought that adopting two cats at once was pretty crazy, although she currently owns four of her own!). To say the least, I was quite disturbed about the kitty situation. After all, my children hadn't even finished moving out of the house yet. Wasn't I a bit too young to turn into the neighborhood's crazy cat lady?
Later that evening, I decided to turn to the internet for a little guidance. My search terms? "How many cats are too many cats?" My research continued into the night. The only thing I learned from my frantic online exploration was that 'how many cats are too many cats' is a very relative notion. Some people feel it's perfectly comfortable and sanitary having ten cats living under their roof. Some consider owning just one cat to be too many. Thankfully, despite the lack of closure concerning the numbers issue, the resolution to my dilemma started to dawn on me during the wee hours of the morning. You see, throughout the past few weeks, I'd been keeping a picture of the litter of all seven kittens on my computer desktop. Throughout the day, when I'd pause to admire the beautiful gray kitten that I'd chosen, my gaze would also drift over to the wide-eyed stare of the runt of the litter, the tiny black kitten that had become my little gray's best friend. The look on her sweet little face always made me smile. My answer, I finally understood, had been right under my nose for the past few weeks, in the form of that photo on my desktop. In addition the gorgeous, long-haired gray kitten, the sweet little runt of the litter was meant to be my cat all along.
Four cats. It certainly wasn't the way I'd planned it, but somehow it would work out. After coming to terms with that insight, an amazing peace enveloped me. With a sigh of relief, I hopped into bed and for the remainder of the night, I slept like a baby.
On Saturday, November 8th, the day the kittens turned eight week old, we adopted two of Jaqui's furry little darlings. And what a pleasure they have been for our family. They're such a team - and adopting two at a time has been so much easier than I would ever had guessed. It hasn't been more work for me, adopting two sisters has actually been LESS work for me. Instead of worrying about one new cat adapting to our older cats, I've been delighted with the knowledge that the kittens have each other. (The older cats are still not thrilled with their younger house mates.) The kittens haven't spent one lonely night pining for their mother or their other litter-mates, as each is living with her best friend in the world. A few weeks after the adoption, our vet informed me that adopting litter mates together is the best way to bring new cats into a home.
Who knew??
The universe (God, Goddess, Spirit -- whatever name you chose to give the Divine) is all wise & all knowing. The Tao Te Ching tells us to learn to roll with - or actually to relax into the wisdom of the universe.
'Relax into the wisdom…' Isn't that one of the most comforting phrases you've ever heard? My kitten incident is rather unique, as rarely have I been given the privilege of watching the 'go with the flow' message played out with such immediacy. However, as I look back through the events of my life, I realize the universe knew what was best for me all along, even when I didn't have a clue.
It's comforting to know that the Universe has a design for all our lives. Oh, I'm sure I'll continue to make my grandiose plans in the future, but when my plans are clearly not working out, I'll be watching for signs that perhaps I need to change direction and 'go with the flow.' After all, all of us in the Pritchard family are pretty happy with the way our lives have turned out so far -- me, my husband, and my two sons.
Oh, right. And our four cats.
Nancy Pritchard is the Facilitator for the monthly Tao Study Group, 'Living a Peaceful Life' at The Healing Way. The group meets the first Thursday of each month from 7 - 8 pm. For the date of the next meeting see the online calendar of events.
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©2008, Nancy Pritchard, All Rights Reserved.
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