Success Lessons from a Reluctant Cat Owner – Part 1: Short Term Discomfort Leads to Long Term Success

(Note: this is part 1 of a 5 part series laying out lessons I learned from my first month owning two cats. A new part will be posted each day this week. Subscribe via RSS or email to make sure you don’t miss one!)

I have a confession to make: I own two cats.

Not by choice mind you. I “inherited” them when my girlfriend moved in with me.

Living in a household with two cats was never something I envisioned for myself. I’ve always loved dogs, and fully intend to own one some day. But cats? Cats never seemed up my alley. They’re just so…cat-like. 

Now I find myself in a situation where I own zero dogs and not one, but two cats. They have been living with me for about a month now, and it’s been…interesting.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m coming around to them. They’re cute, cuddly, and every day they get a little less annoying.

The nice side benefit to living with cats is that it’s taught me a few lessons about life. Five lessons, to be exact, and I am going to share them with you, one at a time, with one blog post each day this week devoted to a specific “I’m a grown man living with cats” lesson.

First up:

Short Term Discomfort Leads to Long Term Success 

The first week I lived with the cats reminded me why I had the belief that cats suck.

One of the two cats, the “scaredy cat” if you will, would hide from me all day. I work from home, and I could literally go morning to night without seeing this cat. It was like living with Dracula, only with more biting and less scintillating conversation.

This cat avoided all human contact. Until, that is, 3:00AM…

Guess who, in the wee hours of the morning, decided it was time to climb all over a sleeping Avish?

You got it: the damned scaredy cat.

What.

The.

Heck?!?!

Cute? Sure, but not at 3 in the freakin' morning!

Look, if you want to be a recluse cat, that’s fine. But then don’t come clambering over my slumbering body like Hillary making for the summit in the pre-dawn hours. That’s just downright impolite. Not to mention annoying.

Damned cats.

After enduring this for a few nights, we tried sleeping with the door closed. The problem with this was that in the wee hours of the morning the cats would start scratching at the door and meowing, trying to get our attention like a 12 year old at a Justin Bieber concert (That’s a thing these days, right? Justin Bieber?)

Damned cats.

My girlfriend and I had two different solutions to this problem. I suggested we buy a rabid wolverine and position it in front of the bedroom door. This plan was unilaterally rejected.

Her solution was to suffer through it for a couple of nights. “If we ignore them for a night or two and leave the door closed, they will learn that it’s useless and stop trying to get in.”

I had my doubts, but I was exhausted from multiple nights of interrupted sleep, so we gave it a try. And you know what? She was right.

They scratched and meowed  a lot that first night. They did a little bit the second night. But by the third night they had learned.

This taught me a lesson that I am sure parents and pet owners for generations have known:

A little short term discomfort can lead to great long term success. 

By suffering through one or two rough nights, we were able to set ourselves up to sleep comfortably for every night afterward.

This same idea applies to most areas of life. If you are pursuing a dream or a goal, then in most cases your long term success will come after some short term discomfort.

• You may have to spend less to save up money.
• Work longer hours now to get your business to a stable level.
• Take an unpleasant job to make ends meet while you work towards you dream.

Yes, it sucks. But it’s a short term suckitude. And if you can push through it, then you’ll set yourself up for long term success.

If you don’t, then you just may end up spending every night with an annoying cat climbing all over you while you try to sleep…

P.S.  For you cat lovers who want to email me about how stupid I am for not loving cats, let me just tell you that, yes, the cats have grown on me. I just want to share parts of my journey getting there…

Reminder: This was part 1 of a 5 part series laying out lessons. Read the rest of the series here: 

Part 2: Don’t Make Things Out to Be Worse Than They Are
Part 3: Everyone (and Every Cat) is Different
Part 4: Listening to Experts is Important
Part 5: Communication Matters

Have your own “crazy cats” story (whether you learned anything from it or not)? Share it in the comments below!

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About

By Avish Parashar. As the world's only Motivational Improviser, Avish uses techniques from the world of improv comedy to engage, entertain, and educate audiences on ideas around change, creativity, and motivation. Connect with Avish on Google+

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