I Don’t Like That Cat: A Solstice Story

The torrential rain poured upon us just before we walked.

“Did you hear that?” My wife exclaimed with ghost eyes.

“Oh my God,” she said, as she reached into a stream of water and pulled out a screaming kitten no bigger than half the size of my palm.

Abandoned or washed away by the storm, my wife held her frigid body close to her. Cold, hungry, and desperately wanting her mommy, the little kitten nipped and clawed at us as we carried her back.

The days that followed the young cat's life were just as chaotic as the storm we found her in—late-night runs to the city to get formula, waking up every 2 hours to feed her to keep her failing body alive and warm, two vet visits, and cleaning up bloody stools in puddles around the house, just to name few.

You should know that all this was happening in the midst of tending to our newborn son, who was only a little over four weeks old at the time.

And as cute as the little creature was, I will admit that there were times when my little self resented her.

Fatigued from lack of sleep, in the morning, all I wanted to do was meditate. Yet, when I would go to sit, her little claws would dig into my skin as she looked for a nipple to feed.

I’d get up to warm some formula to nurse her, yet after only a few moments, she would howl in pain from the cool air; I’d make a warm water bottle to keep her cozy, and then, my wife would come out with my 4-week-old asking for a hand.

It seemed like there was always something that seemed to need my attention.

Yet, despite the chaos of the storm, one thought kept me grounded and even helped me welcome the challenge before me with a smile.

“I am being purified.”

Like the rain that fell and brought that cat to us, water has purifying quality. On the most basic level, we use water to wash the dirt away.

Perhaps that’s why in many ancient traditions, they use it for a deeper and more spiritual purpose.

For example, some Native American traditions will use sweat lodge ceremonies to help expel the bad water from a person’s body.

Hindu priests, in purification ceremonies, will infuse water with healing mantras before they bathe you with it, and in the Christian traditions, they will baptize someone in water to wash away all the negative energy of one’s past life.

And there was this cat, who we named “Storm,” was washing away all that I no longer needed. Just as the water of a rushing river eventually chips away at the stone, life’s challenging experiences have the power to chip all that no longer serves us.

Let me explain:

Have you ever heard the story of the golden Buddha?

In the 1500s, in a small village in Thailand, a huge Buddha statue was covered in mud to hide its value from an invading army. The army took the village by storm and, for many years, ruled there. But because of the layers of mud, the statue’s worth was hidden for centuries.

Until one day, long after, a monk noticed a crack in the statue where he saw a luminous light. He chipped away at the mud, only to discover the Buddha’s golden core.

Similarly, there is gold within us—Divine potential waiting to shine and express its unconditional joy and happiness.

This luminous part of us can be at peace in every situation, for peace is our very nature.

But like the Buddha’s golden nature was hidden by the mud, we cover our Divine nature with our self-created limitations, negative thinking, and preferences.

Now, there are plenty of problems out in the world that need our attention, but whether or not we allow them to take our equilibrium is up to us.

In my case with the kitten, it was not the cat and all her needs and demands that were the problem; the problem was the way I was looking at the situation.

How was I looking at it? Through the lens of my preferences.

Through the lens of my likes and dislikes. I wanted things to be a certain way.

I wanted more sleep, and I didn’t want to be clawed at and interrupted during my morning meditation, my little self, that is.

In other words, because of my preferences (my likes and dislikes) I wanted reality to be other than it was.

Now, this is a recipe for a losing battle. Because as Byron Katie has said,

“When you argue with reality, you lose, but only 100% of the time.

You see, our preference for how we think reality “should be” (our likes) are like the layers of mud we put on, conditioning ourselves to a limited nature.

If we have a strong preference for a food cooked a certain way, and it’s not, we may get irritated. If we have a strong preference for a person to treat us in a particular manner, say kindness, yet they treat us cruelly, we become angry.

If we wish for the sun, yet all it does is rain on our parade, we get upset.

But here is the thing: rain is part of life, and all our preferences limit us to a small self that needs reality to be a certain way for us to be happy.

But because the very nature of reality is filled with fluctuations, our likes and dislikes will eventually lead us to the road of dissatisfaction.

Because reality will never conform to all our wants and wishes.

Now, don’t think I am saying that we need to put up with abuse or challenging situations.

What I am saying is that we don’t let external situations steal our peace. If we need to act, act we must to make things right.

But we should do so from a place rooted in our golden core, rooted in our divine nature. Why argue with reality and get upset if it’s raining (both literally and metaphorically)? Just bring an umbrella, or even sing and dance in it!

It’s worth noting that positive psychology Broaden and Build Theory has found that positive emotions lead to better thinking and creative problem-solving.

As consequence, when we don’t let life’s inevitable storms steal our peace and act from a calm and centered place, we come up with much better solutions to the conflicts in front of us.

Thus, when we view the challenges that come our way as the rain that’s here to melt the layers of mud so that we can get to our golden core, then every challenge has a purifying quality.

With this perspective, everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, that comes into our life becomes a teacher and, thus, has a lesson, a message, and a gift to share with us.

Then. we begin to see whatever is in front of us, be it good or bad, as an opportunity to connect more with our unlimited nature, which, by its nature, does not need any external condition to make us smile with inborn peace. This is true freedom.

It’s the same freedom Nelson Mandela cultivated within while he was unjustly imprisoned for 27 long years.

It’s the same freedom that Maya Angelou had as she wrote her poetic prose that would help a “Caged Bird Sing.”

It’s the same freedom that Steven Hawking generated in his mind as his frail body failed him. This is true freedom.

Because true freedom is chipping away all that is not us—all our limitations.Which makes me think of Michelangelo, the famous sculptor, who, when asked how he created the great work of the statue of David. He said,

"I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free."

Similarly, each of us, has this divine and angelic nature to us. Yet, like Michelangelo chipped away at the stone, we must chip away all those limitations that hold us back from expressing who we truly are.

Our likes and dislikes for how we expect reality to be are a big part of this liberating process.

But don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with enjoying a sunset, feeling the joy that comes from completing a project, and feeling the warmth of a loved one in your arms. Yet, to need these things to make us happy traps us in stone. But if we are to be angels and fly through life, bringing our gifts in the greatest service to the world, we must relinquish these little wants and wishes and learn to be happy with whatever life gives us because there will always be storms that come our way. But, like the water, Life’s storms can purify us to be our best selves.

With this in mind, as we enter into the portal of solstice and the darkest night of the year, let us remember that whatever challenges come our way are not bad; they are opportunities for us to smile in the face of life’s crashing waves. They are our opportunities for us to spread our angelic wings and fly.

With love and solstice wishes,

Adam Guzman-Poole

Holistic Coaching and Counseling

Dharma Warriors: Holistic Empowerment

Live with Purpose, Be of Service, And Change the World