Lessons from Flower the Cat

Flower gets up every morning about 4:00. I suppose the timing is our own fault. We have a clock with two alarms. We set one for 30 minutes to an hour before we want to get up. We call it our snuggle alarm. Flower sees it as an opportunity. He assumes someone's awake enough to get up and feed the cat. There was a period of time when we needed to be up around 4:30 or 5, and apparently Flower got used to that, Now, even though the clock is set for a later time, his internal clock goes off and he's ready for breakfast at 4 a.m. He walks around our waterbed hoping to encourage someone to arise. Sometimes he jumps over a random arm or leg, landing with a bit of a thump. Amazing how pronounced the steps of a cat can be when he walks on a waterbed. And he's persistent. So, I usually get up and feed him, then go back to bed until the alarm actually goes off around 5:15.

Now, he's getting used to that, and has taken it upon himself to be our snooze alarm. He jumps up on the bed again about the time the alarm goes off, apparently to make sure we don't hit the snooze button too many times. After we are up and dressed, when I'm ready to leave the bedroom and head to the kitchen, he darts from under the foot of our bed, ready to race me up the hall-way. We sprint from the bedroom to the kitchen and back a few times, then sit on the living room floor and tussle for a few minutes.

After Trish & I have had breakfast, taken care of outside animals, and Trish leaves for school, Flower's ready for a nap, usually in my lap while I get started at work at my desk. He'll stay there an hour or two if he's not interrupted, before wandering off to look out windows, play or nap somewhere else. For those "dog people" out there, lap naps are one of the things cat owners like about their pets. It's good when your cat curls up in your lap or next to you and purrs his/her contentment.

When you wake up, get up, with enthusiasm and a bounce in your step.
Have a plan for your day - a schedule or routine that will accomplish your goals effectively.
Don't take no for answer, and don't give up too quickly on your goals. Persistence pays.
Be sure to return a kindness and say thank you to others.


And, for those who've never met Flower, & may be wondering how he got his name:
When he was a kitten, he had a streak of white fur from the middle of his back partway down his tail. That, coupled with loving to play in the flower bed, he was named after Flower the skunk in "Bambi." After getting stuck with the name, and learning to respond to it when called, his white streak disappeared.