Would You Eat Your Cat?

It was a few months ago now when I was standing the public library browsing through books while my daughter sought her favourites.  I believe the right book can sometimes fall into your hands. You know, you’ve got that niggling question about life and suddenly a magical book appears with an enchanting title offering answers to the current complexities of life. Well, this wonderfully warm summer day I was rather baffled when the book titled, “Would you eat your cat?” fell into my hands.

Uh.

Yuk!

Uh.

Who would title a book like that?! It puts bad ideas into people’s minds.

As a cat lover and owner of a whiter than milk coloured cat with two different coloured eyes I was astonished and angry. I’ve heard the saying that you’re either a cat lover or a cat hater. And you know those cat haters… they can come up with all sorts of disgusting cat jokes. Ew!

As I’m holding this book in the library my beloved feline friend is probably curled up in a ball on my bed. 

(Which is where she was at the time, and not in this cooking pot).

OMG!

The shock passes (but not the disgust) and I open the front cover, which by the way has an adorable picture of a kitten on it (it can’t be that bad then, right?).

We have different forms of what we believe to be ideal ways of living. Our viewpoints and perspectives may vary from one moment to the next and be different depending on the circumstance and situation we find ourselves in. What we believe to be true or right could be considered as wrong from another person’s perspective. Our viewpoints, opinions, ideas and beliefs differ from another’s. If we believe this to be true we must understand there is not one that is correct.  It would be utterly ridiculous to believe one life view is the same for all.

So, if my truth has a yuk factor to the question, “would you eat your cat?” how does that compare to another person’s perspective?

In the book by Jeremy Stangroom he guides the readers to consider their moral philosophy by considering a range of questions. As we identify the way in which we judge others we gain a deeper understanding of our own moral philosophy and the issues that affect our lives. 

Have you ever been given the righteous “should” treatment by someone? You know the kind. “You should do this….” Or “You shouldn’t do that…” and they expect you to follow these ‘orders’ because they are deemed to be morally correct in that person’s eyes.

YOU SHOULDN’T EAT YOUR CAT!  The title of the book really shocked me because I am an animal lover and would not consider eating my cat. But the moral issues involved in the story says that the cat in question died of natural causes, no one was harmed by the cat being eaten and it was a situation which only involved the owner of the cat who was honouring her beloved friend after it passed away. Is there anything immoral in doing this then? 

(I'm thinking she's rather disgusted that I'm only serving up vegetables!).

We could, as we were told to, SHOULD this elderly woman who felt she was doing the right thing to honour her feline friend’s life.  Or we could consider the situation from her perspective. Was she happy and satisfied doing this? Yes. Did she do anything that would hurt another person or living thing? No. Even though we carry our toolbox of beliefs and values other people may hold different ones.

When you’re aware of your values and beliefs you can consider the shoulding, whether it comes from your viewpoint or someone else, and if it's right for you.  I was raised in a Christian Reformed Church where judging was the ‘norm’ and hence I was constantly trying to prove myself to other people and often made the choice to act like a person I wasn’t just to please everyone else.

I simply wasn’t myself.  I was living a lie. And much to my disgust I too was judging and minimalising others.... blah!... the energies behind judgements and put downs are very heavy to carry.

After many years of soul searching I found my true self and my passion in life. 

Are you feeling stuck or frustrated in life? Do you find yourself worried what others might think of you? Do you have judgemental thoughts?  If so, you might like to consider if you are following your true path or doing what you should be doing? Are you being SHOULDED by your past?

On a side note…. I wonder, how can we live our lives passionately and remain true to ourselves without conflicting with other people’s viewpoints and perspectives?  Could social morality support this?

Imagine everyone on the planet being true to themselves and following their passion. Imagine the people in your neighbourhood, your family and friends… imagine them all excited about living and extremely happy in their lives. Imagine the world without SHOULDs!  What would the world look like?

If you live life passionately… you are guaranteed, not only succeed in reaching your dreams and goals, but you will also spark a seed in the people around you which will excite them to improve their life.

I hope this Blog finds you extremely happy and satisfied in life.  If not, get in touch with me so we can discover how to get you back on track. http://www.carmenwyld.com.

All the best,

Carmen

(No cats were harmed in the making of this blog.  She just became very confused as to why she was woken up from a cozy sleep, curled on my bed, to stand in a cold pot near vegetables.)