Today we brought a new life home with us.
We call her Kali and she is a cat.
Now I have never had kids, so I don’t know what it’s like and I do know that pets and kids are not the same, but I saw a picture of my dad last night looking at his first child shortly after my sister was born and he had this silly grin on his face. Today I’ve had a very similar one.
Now I was a little uncertain going in. This is the first time I have consciously chosen to bring another life into my life (a small one that is – my wife was different). We had pets when I was growing up and I inherited a cat when I got married. This was quite different though.
Even though this is a cat and not a kid and even though I’ve had a cat before, I still wasn’t sure about whether I was up for this commitment.
But having been home now for a few hours and with her sitting next to me on the couch, everything feels perfect.
What this brought to life for me was the rewards we get when we take a risk and do something that may feel uncomfortable.
The main reward is personal growth, but I am finding the perma-smile on my face is a pretty good reward too. Happiness is a great reward for taking the right risks in life.
I heard recently that growth is risk-taking plus awareness. I did my last post on awareness and this post shows another aspect of why this is so important.
The problem with risk-taking is knowing what risks to take. You don’t grow if you risk carelessly, that’s just a thrill. The awareness is needed to look within yourself and know the right risks to take. What will be those things that will be most rewarding for you and provide what is needed to grow.
I am quite sure that Kali will be a completely different experience than previous cats and teach me a thing or two about life and love and laughter.
I think this is why so many people find children to be so rewarding over all, even if there are moment when you want them to go away for long periods and leave you some peace and quiet. Because they provide so much opportunity for US to grow with them.
So awareness is a great thing – it helps us know when to risk and provides the foundation for growth.
So keep laughing and keep growing!