{"id":10644,"date":"2013-10-05T05:40:16","date_gmt":"2013-10-05T09:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/?p=10644"},"modified":"2016-02-02T17:15:09","modified_gmt":"2016-02-02T22:15:09","slug":"combating-the-groundhog-day-of-life-to-help-promote-inner-peace-health-and-happiness-for-you-and-your-cats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/combating-the-groundhog-day-of-life-to-help-promote-inner-peace-health-and-happiness-for-you-and-your-cats\/","title":{"rendered":"Combating the Groundhog Day of Life to Help Promote Inner Peace, Health, and Happiness for You and Your Cats"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Groundhog<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI Got You Babe.\u201d Remember how that song played every morning as the alarm sounded at 6:00 a.m. on the movie Groundhog Day and Bill Murray\u2019s character found himself repeating the exact same day over and over? I think in life as we move from one day to the next often we get so settled and stuck in the daily routines of our life, that it seems like we are living the same day over again, even though in reality we are not.<\/p>\n

I say all of this because lately Dan and I have kind of been stuck in the doldrums and we have been digging ourselves into a quiet rut of complacency by allowing the routine to continue. We have been going through some life struggles that have been difficult and we are also grappling with the fact that our kids are all grown up and that we don’t get to see them nearly as much as we want to. We find ourselves lamenting that there is a certain void in our hearts that is contributing to the sameness of our lives.<\/p>\n

\"kidsat<\/a>

We’ve yet to gather the whole family in one fell swoop, but we were able to share time with some of our kids on a great trip we took to Discovery Cove in Orlando a few years ago that we will never forget. From L to R – Dan, me, Jackie, Chris, and Crystal.<\/p><\/div>\n

But, the truth is, it is our fault. We cannot build a personal fortress by imprisoning ourselves in our own little world. Sure, we can miss our children and look forward to them visiting, but we can\u2019t forget to live in the meantime. For the most part, life is not going to come knocking at your door, inviting you to participate. You have to go out and find it and create your own sense of community in order to fill the emptiness in your heart. We live in South Florida \u2013 a gorgeous state with beautiful weather, stunning tropical flowers, and ocean views. Many people would be envious to be in our position, yet we rarely take advantage of what is around us.<\/p>\n

That all changed last weekend as I realized that our personal preoccupations and willingness to let life slip by was affecting the cats and that is just not fair to them. Our cats are not outdoor cats, but we do take them out, supervised, in our fenced in backyard on occasion. It has been ages since we have done that and I could visually see the dejection on their sweet little faces as yet another day came and went that we did not open that magical door to the paradise of lizards, bugs, and the intoxicating sights and smells that only the outdoors can offer to a cat.<\/p>\n

\"rolz-outside\"<\/a>

One of those blessed moments for the cats when we take them outside. Seen here is Rolz who is on high alert sniffing his surroundings…<\/p><\/div>\n

Even if Dan and I don\u2019t do anything in a grand sense, at the very least, we can come and go as we please and change our environment. We can run errands, go out to dinner, do some gardening and my Mom and oldest son do live close by, so we can visit with them when we can. We do not have to be in the house 24\/7 like the cats if we don\u2019t want to. Can you imagine that? Every single day is the controlled sameness unless we help provide a changing and stimulating environment for them.<\/p>\n

And don’t get me wrong – \u00a0it\u2019s not that we don\u2019t give our cats lots of toys, playtime, loving, and attention. We do. But, I think we can do better by them. And the first step was to do better by us. It was time for us to stop allowing our negative circumstances to control us and to wake up with a renewed attitude \u2013 we only get one life and it was up to us to shape to our own liking.<\/p>\n

So, Dan and I have made some deliberate changes \u2013 we are stepping away from the computer on Saturdays and taking small day trips to enjoy the sites and scenery around us. Last weekend we ventured to Hollywood Beach and instantly fell in love with the two plus mile long boardwalk filled with a charming array of small restaurants, one-man bands, shops and more. The ocean was right there and the beach was alive with the joyful and exhilarating chaos of children playing, people rollerblading and bicycling, and couples holding hands. Nothing out of the ordinary, yet to be a part of it all, was completely extraordinary and it was a life changer. We felt better about ourselves and a sense of inner peace, calm, and happiness prevailed.<\/p>\n

\"Deb1Hollywood\"<\/a>

Ahh… just taking it all in – feeling the fresh air and the heat of the sun… so, so liberating and mentally cleansing…<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Deb4Hollywood\"<\/a>

Just life… ordinary, beautiful life all around me…<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Deb2Hollywood\"<\/a>

Well, Hello Kitty!! Finding the cat in life, no matter where I am!<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Deb3Hollywood\"<\/a>

How cool is this!? A theater on the beach starring a “Cat Daddy” performance!<\/p><\/div>\n

I know a lot of you would say that if you lived here, you would take advantage of the warm weather, the beaches, and everything else. And maybe you would. Or, maybe you live in your own town and barely take advantage of what is around you for whatever reason and people would comment that if they lived where you did, that they would take advantage of all that your community offered. All I can say is that if you don\u2019t, I encourage you to do so. Even if it\u2019s a walk around your neighborhood or stopping somewhere for a cup of coffee, it feels nice to get out and be a part of the world. \u00a0Granted, all the small and large issues in your life will not magically go away, but your perspective and way to handle them will. So, do it for yourself, and do the same for your cats. Give them a new toy or some extra playtime. Or an empty box for them to jump in for no reason. Or open the door to an otherwise forbidden room for some adventurous snooping around just for the fun of it.\u00a0Keep in mind that they react off of our emotions, so by keeping yourself mentally healthy, you are helping to ensure they live a longer, happier, and healthier life too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI Got You Babe.\u201d Remember how that song played every morning as the alarm sounded at 6:00 a.m. on the movie Groundhog Day and Bill Murray\u2019s character found himself repeating the exact same day over and over? I think in life as we move from one day to the next often we get so settled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10646,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1098,1096,3],"tags":[175,692,652,249,693],"class_list":["post-10644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cat-behavior","category-general-cat-care-and-health","category-inspiration-healing","tag-cat-behavior","tag-cat-health","tag-enjoying-life","tag-feline-human-bond","tag-personal-inspiration"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/rolz-outside.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10644"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16381,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10644\/revisions\/16381"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}