October 23, 2018
October 23, 2018
This is the story of how cat shit turned my day around. This morning, as I walked to breakfast, I was lost in my thoughts, dreading all the stuff I had to do today.
I have to workout and go to work and I don’t want to because I’m tired. And at work, I’m going to end up cleaning the line because everyone else is too lazy . . .
As I continued to feel sorry for myself, I was almost too distracted to see the cat shit in the middle of the sidewalk. I barely missed stepping in it.
My thought process went like this:
Whoa, I almost stepped in that.
Is that cat shit?
What’s cat shit doing in the middle of the sidewalk?
And what’s a cat doing at a prison in the middle of the desert?
I turned and continued on my way to breakfast.
Good thing I didn’t step in that.
That would have sucked.
Someone’s probably going to step in it.
Better them than me.
I stopped.
Maybe I should pick it up.
No, why would I? It’s not like anyone would go out of their way to pick up some shit.
I started walking again.
Then I stopped.
That’s probably why I should do it.
But I got all that other stuff to do today.
It will only take a minute.
I sighed. After a quick search I found some saran wrap. I went back to the cat shit, and with the saran wrap over my hand I picked it up.
Something magical happened in that act. As I walked over to the trash can my whole attitude toward the day transformed. I was so focused on me, me, me. I have to do this, I don’t want to do that, and it goes for so much of my life in here. You learn to stay in your own lane, don’t get involved in other people’s business. Don’t care about them because they don’t give a shit about you. But the simple act of picking up some cat shit, so someone else didn’t step in it and ruin their day, made all of my “problems” fade away. My earlier complaints seemed so insignificant and petty, and suddenly I began to look forward to the day.
With a handful of cat shit, I felt lighter.
As I got to the trashcan someone stopped me. “Did you just pick up some shit?”
I smiled, “Yeah. I did.”
He shook his head, a concerned look on his face. “You’re a strange individual.”
I have to workout and go to work and I don’t want to because I’m tired. And at work, I’m going to end up cleaning the line because everyone else is too lazy . . .
As I continued to feel sorry for myself, I was almost too distracted to see the cat shit in the middle of the sidewalk. I barely missed stepping in it.
My thought process went like this:
Whoa, I almost stepped in that.
Is that cat shit?
What’s cat shit doing in the middle of the sidewalk?
And what’s a cat doing at a prison in the middle of the desert?
I turned and continued on my way to breakfast.
Good thing I didn’t step in that.
That would have sucked.
Someone’s probably going to step in it.
Better them than me.
I stopped.
Maybe I should pick it up.
No, why would I? It’s not like anyone would go out of their way to pick up some shit.
I started walking again.
Then I stopped.
That’s probably why I should do it.
But I got all that other stuff to do today.
It will only take a minute.
I sighed. After a quick search I found some saran wrap. I went back to the cat shit, and with the saran wrap over my hand I picked it up.
Something magical happened in that act. As I walked over to the trash can my whole attitude toward the day transformed. I was so focused on me, me, me. I have to do this, I don’t want to do that, and it goes for so much of my life in here. You learn to stay in your own lane, don’t get involved in other people’s business. Don’t care about them because they don’t give a shit about you. But the simple act of picking up some cat shit, so someone else didn’t step in it and ruin their day, made all of my “problems” fade away. My earlier complaints seemed so insignificant and petty, and suddenly I began to look forward to the day.
With a handful of cat shit, I felt lighter.
As I got to the trashcan someone stopped me. “Did you just pick up some shit?”
I smiled, “Yeah. I did.”
He shook his head, a concerned look on his face. “You’re a strange individual.”
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