REFLECTIONS OF A ZEN MASTER

By Jeanette M. Pintar - with inspiration from Misty

SOME DAYS YOU'RE THE CAT, SOME DAYS YOU'RE THE MOUSE!

Misty was many things... a great hunter who would do no harm to her pray, an extraordinary sleeper, a wonderful friend, an excellent time keeper (our schedule inevitably revolved around hers), and an all around awesome kitty. She had a wonderfully peaceful disposition, and most of our friends were amazed at how well she co-existed with our birds, Piper and Sugar. What they didn't realize is that Piper - and sometimes Sugar - had taken it upon themselves to terrorize Misty when she wasn't expecting it! As soon as she would enter a sound sleep, Piper would crawl down off his cage, circle around her, and try to pull the fur out of Misty's tail. Or Piper and Sugar would team up and wait until Misty wasn't paying attention, then both birds would jump off the cage somehow managing to dive-bomb Misty even though their wings had been clipped! Although annoyingly surprised, Misty took it all in stride. She understood that some days you're the cat, and some days you're the mouse.

This is a helpful thing to remember when we're having a "mouse" day and would like to do nothing more than escape into the nearest hole. Because although it may feel like the world is out to get us for no good reason at all, everything is temporary and this too shall pass. Tomorrow is sure to bring different and better opportunities if we expect it to. And while we're waiting for things to calm down so we can come out of hiding, we just might discover a few good things about ourselves we may have otherwise over looked.

Remember: Some days you're the cat, some days you're the mouse!

--- © Jeanette M. Pintar, Inspired by Misty

To view photos of Misty, past articles and other pet stories in our special new Fuzzy Tales section, visit http://www.sfpnn.com/misty.htm