Читать книгу How to Live Like Your Cat - Roland Glasser - Страница 12

‘I love them, they are so nice and selfish. Dogs are TOO good and unselfish. They make me feel uncomfortable. But cats are gloriously human’

L.M. MONTGOMERY, ANNE OF THE ISLAND

Many of us find it hard to assert ourselves in front of other people, either out of shyness or lack of confidence. We take a step back, we say little, we behave as if other people are intellectually superior, or at least sufficiently sure of themselves to overpower everyone with their presence, their knowledge, often their idiocies if you actually listen to them.

Who are these ‘other people’? They’re you and me, for we are all somebody’s ‘other’. If other people take up more space than you, it’s because you let them do so. It’s like cupboards: the more you have, the more you fill them.

Do you find that other people invade your space, sometimes even stepping on your toes before walking all over you?

Think of your cat. Try stepping on your cat’s paw, just to see their reaction. You’ll hear them, and possibly even feel them as they dig their claws into your calf!

Stop getting walked all over. ‘Other people’ have no right to assert themselves in this way. They have only the space that you grant them; they have only your level of tolerance. They won’t stop at crushing your foot. They’ll tread you into the dirt, then drown you for good measure!

There is a real difference between having charisma and a strong personality – like your cat – and crushing people in order to impose yourself.

Cats take the space that is their due, without crushing their neighbour, but they do not tolerate any encroachment on that space. They assert themselves quietly. They don’t play the tyrant, but neither do they accept a walk-on part.

Know how to assert yourself calmly, and defend your space at the first attempt at intrusion. You deserve more than a walk-on part!