The Kindness Project – Animals are, too…

The fabulous Carol Valdez Miller had this amazing idea about a Kindness Project. You can read about it here.

Well, yours truly (that would be moi) decided to join in – considering one of my rules to live by is this quote from Sir James Barrie: “Always be a little kinder than necessary.”

In thinking of what to write about for this month’s post, my mind went back to an incident that a friend told me about. It served to reinforce (for me) the belief that the only thing separating us from realizing how intelligent, caring, and capable our animals friends are is our inability to communicate with them in their language. (More on that in another post.)

Anyway – back to the incident. This gal (my friend) had two golden retrievers that were fast friends – having grown up together. They would run and play in her fenced yard – and the neighbor’s cat would sit on the fence and watch them. This went on for years. The cat never tried to be friendly with the dogs – although they were used to cats – it just watched them.

One of the dogs died, and the remaining dog was heart-broken – completely lost without his buddy.

My friend had let the lone dog out into the yard and she was watching him out the window. He laid down on the porch – his head between his legs – desolate. Suddenly, the cat appeared on the fence. It watched the dog for a moment, then jumped into the yard, walked over to the porch, up to the dog and began rubbing on it. This went on for several minutes – the cat poured out tons of love on this sad dog, who soaked up this dear little cat’s compassion and sympathy.

Now – I truly believe that little act of kindness was not random, a fluke, or out-of-character. I am convinced that all creatures have within them kindness, sympathy, and goodness. And – I am also convinced that if we express those qualities more in our own lives, we will find the world around us reflecting them back to us.

To read what other participants in The Kindness Project have posted today – click on their name below.

“Always [and in all ways] be a little kinder than necessary.”