Compassion for my Cat

My day of compassion was originally scheduled to be on Thursdays, but since I emailed that schedule out to everyone, I had to move it to Friday.  My day of compassion started out with a difficult task for me: to be compassionate towards the family (my wife’s) cat.  I don’t really like cats at all.  I generally find them annoying and useless.  I decided to really look at the cat’s role in our family and be more compassionate towards it.  Throughout the day I began to see the role the animal plays in our family.  It provides comfort and entertainment to each of us.  The cat really enjoys sitting on laps and evening time with Gus on her lap is something my wife looks forward to each night.  She also enjoys seeing Gus when she comes home from lunch.  It makes her feel like she isn’t eating alone.  I know this sounds as if it might be coming off sarcastic, but it really is not.  I made an effort to spend some quality with the cat and really enjoyed it.  It made me slow down and relax in a different way that I usually do.

In addition to my compassion towards the cat, I showed some extra compassion at the grocery store.  A young group of kids was selling raffle tickets to fund their trip to play in the Little League regional tournament.  I never donate money towards these kinds of causes, but since it was my day of compassion, I made a point to talk with the kids, buy some tickets, and wish them good luck at their tournament.  They seemed to genuinely appreciate the interaction.  It made me feel good to donate as well.  I was reminded of my youth and all of the AAU tournaments and sports I played.  We never really did any fund raising, so I suppose my parents just footed the bill themselves.  Perhaps I should show them a bit of compassion this weekend for doing so. 

I wouldn’t say that my day of compassion had a profound effect on me.  Most of you know me as a rather sarcastic smart ass, but I generally treat those I don’t know with compassion.