{"id":12426,"date":"2014-05-24T04:50:05","date_gmt":"2014-05-24T08:50:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/?p=12426"},"modified":"2014-05-24T09:16:23","modified_gmt":"2014-05-24T13:16:23","slug":"not-just-cats-life-death-seat-belts-and-memorial-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/not-just-cats-life-death-seat-belts-and-memorial-weekend\/","title":{"rendered":"Not Just Cats – Life, Death, Seat Belts, and Memorial Weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"AutumnRolz\"<\/a>

Live life like a cat exploring the outdoors… For them, every sense is on high alert and nothing is left unnoticed…<\/p><\/div>\n

Hello Everyone \u2013<\/em><\/p>\n

I wish I could be writing from a happier place, but my co-worker\u2019s 35 year old daughter was killed suddenly a few days ago in a car accident and it has left me deeply saddened for her loss. \u00a0The death of a loved one is never easy, but in the natural order of life, having a child pass before a parent is just so unbearable and I pray she has the strength to go on. And to make an already unimaginable situation worse, it turns out had she been wearing a seat belt while driving, it probably would have saved her life.<\/p>\n

I share this personal news only to serve as a reminder that our lives are so fleeting and I want only the best for all of you. It is clich\u00e9, but no truer words are spoken than that we only have one life and we need to try our best to appreciate each blessed moment we are given and to live it to the fullest extent possible because we never know when it will be our last.<\/p>\n

\"2014zoey\"<\/a>

I shared this quote back in January and it remains an inspirational favorite of mine.<\/p><\/div>\n

In January I shared a heartfelt post <\/a>about entering the new year with the possibility of pursuing dreams, making changes, personal rejuvenation, and setting goals. As the middle of the year descends upon us, I wonder how many of us have either given up on those dreams or forgotten about them all together for whatever reason or excuse we have. I ask each of you today to take a quick moment to revisit where all of you are at this point in your life \u2013 are you where you want to be or do you still want more for yourself?<\/p>\n

Are you a smoker who had planned on giving it up but couldn’t? Or are you frustrated that your life seems to be passing you by without any real purpose or sense of being? Or maybe you are holding a grudge with someone for whatever reason or you are staying in a bad relationship, whether it be work related or personal because you are afraid to move on.<\/p>\n

\"kiz-and-jaz\"<\/a>

Life live with this simple understanding – the words you speak to someone might be the last words they hear – may those words always be spoken with kindness and respect and not anger, bitterness, and resentment.<\/p><\/div>\n

All I can say is that if nothing else, we must learn from her tragedy so that a life is not lost in vain. Pull out that bucket list of yours and start checking things off. Learn new skills, go to school, smoke that last cigarette, write a book, play the piano, travel, learn a new language, eat sushi for the first time, adopt another cat. Breathe. Live. Love. Embrace. But most of all, just do something and remember that we\u00a0are never too young or too old to appreciate what life has to offer.<\/p>\n

\"smile\"<\/a>

Yup… this is one cat who never lives in regret!<\/p><\/div>\n

Please don\u2019t live your life waiting for someone else or something else to change your circumstances. We all want to win the lottery but that should not be the road map to bettering your life. Personal \u00a0fulfillment comes from breaking past your own comfort zone and grabbing life. In other words, dare to follow your own dreams rather than living in the shadow of someone else’s. And whatever it is for you, no matter how large or small the goal, take that first step moving towards it and remember to be kind to yourself and others along the way. And don’t worry if you fail. Failure is nothing more than a stepping stone to eventually getting it right!<\/p>\n

Just keep this simple thought in mind – what if your tomorrow doesn’t come? Take care of yourself now. I leave you with this \u2013 all of you \u2013 those that comment and those that read my blog from afar \u2013 you are all special and important to me. I thank you for your friendship and support and want you to know you matter to me. If nothing else is gained from this post, if you don\u2019t wear a seat belt, or you know of people in your life that don\u2019t wear one, I beg of you to reconsider and please wear one.<\/p>\n

And one last thing – \u00a0although the sales, the extra day off, and the barbecues are nice, with this being Memorial Day weekend, please remember it is a time \u00a0to\u00a0honor and respect all the men, women, and animals who have given so selflessly to make America the glorious place it is to live. May their memories never be forgotten and a heartfelt thank you to all of them for their time in service.<\/p>\n

\"Flag1\"<\/a>

Memorial Day – Monday, May 26th, 2014<\/p><\/div>\n

Be safe everyone\u00a0have the best weekend you can \u2013 I am sorry if I brought any of you down, I did not mean to, but when I write, it always comes from my heart and I can\u2019t turn off the emotional place I am at right now. Give your kitties extra love today and a special hug from me.<\/p>\n

\"PeanutMiaZoeyWideShot2\"<\/a>

I leave you with this precious image of Zoey with her daughters, Peanut and Mia. I am grateful she has these beautiful babies in her life and that they all love one another so much.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hello Everyone \u2013 I wish I could be writing from a happier place, but my co-worker\u2019s 35 year old daughter was killed suddenly a few days ago in a car accident and it has left me deeply saddened for her loss. \u00a0The death of a loved one is never easy, but in the natural order […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12429,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[824,1265,826,251,823,825],"class_list":["post-12426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration-healing","tag-appreciating-life","tag-cats","tag-life-and-death","tag-love","tag-memorial-day","tag-seat-belts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/AutumnRolz.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12426","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=12426"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12426\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12452,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12426\/revisions\/12452"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}