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Changing of Seasons

There are a couple things that I have noticed recently during my early morning runs:
1.  There are a lot more loose, free, stray, or whatever you want to call them, cats roaming the streets of Union than I had previously realized.
2.  The last two mornings, especially today at 58 degrees, felt amazing.

I've picked up a few lessons from the cats that I've seen out and about.  Most of the ones I see are your typical housecat variety - small and not very ferocious looking.  When I come running by, they duck behind a curb or mailbox, or flee to the shadows, or lay down as flat and still as possible.  Why behave that way?  Why wouldn't they come up me to be petted or offered food?  It's because they don't know me or my intentions.  In that moment when I run up on them, they go into survival mode.  Regardless of what they were doing, it's put on hold and their main priority is to just stay alive.  (Just as information, I have never nor do I ever intend to harm any of these cats, they're just scared).

But when we think about others in the cat family like lions or tigers, I sincerely doubt they would have the same reaction if they saw me coming.  I imagine I look more like a meal than a threat to them.  The roles would probably be reversed with me looking for cover or trying to find a way to escape.

The difference between the two cats, besides the obvious of their size, is the season they are in.  One is in a season of surviving.  Its goal is merely to stay alive, it is not looking to prosper when it becomes spooked.  The other cat is in a season of thriving.  It is looking for a meal, for future provisions, and looking to get ahead on its calorie intake.

Do you know what season of life you are in right now?  Sometimes we go through times that are so busy, so hard, so difficult that we feel like we're doing good just to survive - and you'd be right in saying so.  But then other times we seem to be ahead of the game and ready for whatever life throws at us.  These are the times that we must focus on thriving.

Sometimes just hanging on truly is a victory.  And sometimes sitting back and relaxing while on top may actually be a defeat.  Look at your schedule of opportunities today and decide - Am I here to survive Friday?  Or am I here to prepare to thrive on Monday?  Seasons change, adapt and keep moving.
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