The best zen master you’ll ever meet is your cat.
A cat doesn’t linger on their troubles.
When a cat is hunting and the prey gets away, it doesn’t wallow in self-pity or blame circumstances. It accepts what happened and moves on, finds new prey — or goes to take a nap and chill. Cats exist in the moment and they don’t expend energy on regret. Learn to be like your cat: let go of the past, embrace what happened, and move on to new moments. Learn from your mistakes but don’t obsess over them or let them consume you.
A cat is happy with what it has and where it is in life.
If you have a cat, you’ve probably seen it lay in some really uncomfortable positions, or play with some very unconventional toys. A cat doesn’t need the most expensive luxury bed, the fanciest gourmet foods, or the shiniest new toys to be happy; in fact, your cat probably has a favorite cardboard box to play in and a favorite old toy to bat around. You, too, should learn to accept what you have in life, stop wanting for more, and choose to be happy with who you are and where you are in life.
A cat lives its life for itself, and no one else.
A lot of people think cats are assholes, and this is why. A cat’s own life is the only one they’re really concerned about. Their happiness is the only one they spend their time worrying about. Your cat doesn’t go around its life trying to please you or anyone else; instead, when it focuses on making itself happy — looking silly playing with toys or stretching out by an open window or cuddling with you for warmth — that just happens to make you happy too. There’s no use living your whole life solely to please other people, because you’re never going to accomplish it, and you don’t know what’s going on inside their heads. So you might as well just live your life in joy and more likely than not, it will happen to bring joy to those around you.
A cat knows its place in the universe.
Right now you might be thinking to yourself “uuh…no, a cat does not know its place in the universe. My cat thinks he’s the king of the world, and I’m pretty sure he’s not.” But here’s the thing — he is. Not really, of course; but to him, he is. A cat knows that all they know is themselves. They accept their lack of omniscience, they don’t worry about whether or not their life is going to affect the whole world (because it’s not), and they just go on living for themselves. Learn your place in the universe — accept that you are not very significant, but know that you are all that you can know.
A cat loves itself.
A cat always finds what it loves, and embraces it whole-heartedly. It chows down the soft food you give it as a treat, basks in the morning sunlight coming in through the windows, and unrolls the toilet paper for fun — and never once stops to wonder “do I deserve this?” Because it loves itself, and it deserves to love what it loves. Don’t sulk down and sit around telling yourself you’re wrong, stupid, ugly, weak, or unloved. Treat yourself to a nice bask in the sunshine and don’t linger on what other people might think of you. And most importantly, love yourself.