Impossible vs. Possible...A Life Lesson from Kittens.
This is Süßi (pronounced "Zues-ēē) and her sleeping sister, Schatzi. They are our new kittens who will live OUTSIDE once they are big enough to fend for themselves against hawks and such. They have no tails and are...OMGSH!!!! SO FRIKKIN CUTE!!!!
Being litter mates and tail-less are the only things these two have in common, lol. Süßi is super sweet and a little shy and Schatzi is super sweet, sassy, and completely fearless.
This is Po...
The twins arrived.
I have never heard him hiss or growl in his whole 18-month-old-life until the two little, no-tailed, kittens joined our family.
From the first moment he investigated their tiny, tail-less bodies, he decided, "Thanks, but no thanks" and proceeded to let them know that he was in NO WAY interested in their kitten shenanigans.
Süßi was easy to convince, being the shy and timid one...and she avoided all confrontation with Po at all costs. Schatzi, on the other hand saw it as a challenge to befriend this hulking, hissing fluff ball with no nose. Every time I turned around, she was chasing him or getting too close for his comfort and he would slap her and hiss and run away.
Then he started purposely taking toys that the "girls" were playing with and he would hiss and growl if they tried to get them back. Süßi would watch him take it...sit there contemplating for a minute...and then walk away to find another toy that he would eventually take away as well...total jerk.
Schatzi wasn't so easy to bully, lol. Po would snatch her toy and when he would look away, she would sneak back over and take it back. A chase would pursue and end up with a few hard slaps, a disoriented kitten and a toy that was left for Süßi to pick back up and walk away with...only to have it taken away again...and you get the picture...same scenario all day.
2 weeks have now passed and I was watching the three of them yesterday. Po and Schatzi have come to the understanding that he can't escape her and he has accepted her, and (gasp!) befriended her. They chase and wrestle and, yes, he still pops her hard but, dang it, she gives it right back.
Süßi, on the other hand, is still unsure of him. She still cowers when he comes near and she will willingly leave a toy if he even looks at it. He knows this and, while he doesn't growl quite as much as before, he still pushes her out.
As I was thinking about them this morning before I started cleaning, I felt Papa saying that many of us are like Süßi...timid and shy about things that seem impossible or bigger than our understanding. Schatzi enjoys access to relationships that are bigger than her because she was fearless in pushing her way into them. She's a little, squirt-of -a-thing but she doesn't know that. In HER mind, she's a lion. Because of this, she has been accepted into a 'higher' club.
You know? Schatzi and Süßi are sisters...but Süßi can't pull on that relationship to "get her in" with the older cats. It doesn't work that way. Its the same in higher levels of influence and life. We may get our foot in the door by who we know, but we won't be able to walk through that door and call it home unless we exhibit the same confidence and fearlessness as those who surround us.
Many of us long for higher "relationships"...connections with people of influence that could greatly benefit us or catapult us into greater things, but we are like Süßi. Happy to be included, but timid and shy and afraid to be assertive because, in our hearts, we don't really feel like we belong there. What we don't realize is that the people and areas that we desire respect confidence and risk. Like Schatzi, it may not go very well at first. We may get slapped a few times...hissed at...growled at, but in time, our determination and integrity will earn the respect of one who will then make room for us at their table.
It's time for God's people to stop being so timid about our giftings, claiming a false humility. We were meant to influence the media, the government, the schools, the business world, the medical world, etc... We will never do this if we are shy little kittens who feel like they have to bow every time someone "bigger" than us growls. Sometimes people of great influence will do this because they know that, to be a person of great influence and a catalyst for change, you can't bow to every person that hisses, growls, or slaps at you. You have to be bale to stand your ground, with respect, and give back just as good as you get.
The last thing I noticed was that Schatzi never got angry or pissy with Po's treatment of her. She truly saw it for what it was: a challenge to know him more. Can we just stop getting so damn pissy and butt-hurt?! Don't let resistance and opposition offend you or discourage you! Stay in the game and stay unoffended! See it as an opportunity to investigate and see into the lives of others.
I work in film and it can be one of the most stressful jobs on the planet. I have been mocked, yelled at, cussed at and about, and yet I stand up for myself and give it right back. Know what?? I am still one of the most sought after in my market by productions. You want to know why?? Because I don't shrink from a challenge. I am confident in my ability and knowledge and, while they may rage on about whatever has them stretched to the max that day, I remain unoffended and I will give it back to them just as bodly, but with respect..whether I get respect from them or not. I see them as people who have the world on their shoulders instead of getting emotional and offended because they didn't honor me. This has earned me a place of respect in very high places and it has earned me access into the lives of people with great influence.
SO! I guess what I'm trying to say is: Stop being a ninny about things seeming "impossible". Jump in and go for it...even if you are the smallest little kitten in a room full of fulffly, pissy, hissing, big cats. You might just find a home there.
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