June is "Be Happy Month"!

Hello Readers,

We decided to refer to June as "Be Happy Month". Will you join us in this blessing? Please say YES.

Our mamma was watching a speech the other day and the speaker was talking about how people have become offended so easily lately. There are people we may have even stopped speaking to just because they offended us. The woman told of a story about advice she was given a long time ago. It was something about if someone offends you that you have a choice. To think of the offense like a physical fence. You can take that fence and then carry it around. That forces you to take on that burden. The other choice is to leave that fence there, and just walk away.

How many times do you carry that fence? Or do you just walk away from it?

This story really had us thinking... and brought us to decide that June will be a happy month.

To get us started on the right foot, let's think about the blessings of our relationships.

We all know that relationships take effort and dedication to remain strong. To make our relationships life long ones, we recognize the following elements are key:

Continuous and Candid Communication
Honesty and Trust

No-Judgment Zone Acceptance

Understanding

Laughter

Time

If relationships have these elements, then, there is no way we would carry a fence if one was given. 

We hope we inspire you to nurture your relationships in this way, and that your June is a happy month.

Purr & Paw,
-Stivali. 🐾

Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose. - Tennessee Williams. 

Learning Optimism and Displaying Authentic Happiness

Our mamma knows the world is troubled right now. She seeks solace in hunkering down with us at home during this global pandemic. She is very fortunate to work-from-home and be safe during the current state of our country. She is well-aware that not everyone is able to work-from-home, she talks to us all the time about how blessed she feels, and how she is in a constant state of prayer for people unemployed or people employed who have to be in the public and work in these trying conditions.  

Throughout the years, mamma has learned optimism and is constantly displaying joy. She jokes that she was born with a joy filled heart, but her life has not been free of negativity. Can anyone really say their life hasn't had their share of troubles? 

She is often asked how she can maintain such a joyful outlook in deep times of trouble, we have heard her explain many times that it is a choice. Some days are harder than others to display authentically happiness. Being happy doesn't mean there isn't pain or negativity faced - sometimes on the daily. 

For anyone wanting to hone in on optimism and happiness, and if you are needing a book recommendation for the winter, check out Flourish by Dr Martin Seligman. 

Dr Seligman uses the acronym “PERMA” to explain the five elements essential to lasting contentment:

• Positive Emotion - can't we all strive to own this?! 
• Engagement - getting busy in a project, a book, helps us be engaged. 
• Relationships - research suggests those of us in meaningful and positive relationships are happier than those who aren't. 
• Meaning - what matters most to you? Is it a cause for your community? What gives your life meaning? 
• Accomplishment/Achievement - consistent intention to achieve gives life significance and satisfaction. What are you striving for to be better each day of your life? 

Us cats are pretty blessed. We can easily define each of these for ourselves to ensure our positive outlook. The squirrel who visits us each day to use the window bird feeder is one thing that brought us great happiness again this week. 

May your Sunday be filled with happiness and gets your week off to a great start! 

Purr & Paw, 🐾

-Stivali.

For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness. - Ralph Waldo Emerson.

This week in pictures. . .

We saw a family of deer from our window! So much fun to watch. 💓

Grigio visited us every single day. Some days, multiple times, and on a few days, he spent hours basking in the sun on our deck. 💘

Looking out windows help us decompress. That, and music. If your kitties seem stressed, and you want to provide them a relaxation room - be sure to put on some music to soothe their souls... here's an article that says it does help. We agree with the scientists. 😸

We had a wonderful week and we hope you all did, too.

Purr & Paw,

-Stivali. 🐾

There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats. – Albert Schweitzer.

Special Thanks to all the Fathers!

Happy Father's Day! 😼 We hope you all enjoyed your weekend celebrating and honoring the special dads, past and present, in your lives.

This is a customary day for the celebration of fatherhood and is known to date back to as early as 1508 in Europe. There, it is celebrated on the feast day of Saint Joseph in March. This celebration was brought to America by the Spanish and Portuguese. If you are interested in learning more about the history of the day, its origins are discussed here: https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/fathers-day

We wish each of you a wonderful week ahead.

How cute are Pasqua & Grigio? 😸

Purr & Paw,
-Stivali. 🐾

“The heart of a father is the masterpiece of nature.” – Antoine Francois Prevost.

We help each other through...

Good Day, Readers,

During this challenging time, we send blessings of hope, encouragement, and good health.

Pasqua and I are well aware of the benefits we have for health and happiness to our humans.  It is well-documented that having a pet reduces loneliness and anxiety, provides daily structure, and gives a purpose - a happy one.

If you don't have a pet, we provide photos of us and our outdoor friends to cheer you:

What is really cool, is  that one day we had someone other than Grigio come to visit us.

Grigio:

Random doe eyed kitten:

What a beaut, right?

ASPCA offers the following to help us protect our pets: aspca.org/coronavirus-keeping-your-pets-safe-during-covid-19-crisis 

We wish you peace, health, and safety this holy week - regardless if you celebrate - we wish you, still, a celebration of rebirth and renewal. In our Christian faith, Jesus celebrated a Passover meal with his disciples the day before his crucifixion, what we call Holy Thursday. Passover commemorates the liberation of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt.

Peace be with you and with those you love.

Purr & Paw,
-Stivali. 🐾

(Pasqua, named after Easter, really wanted to write this blog post. I feel he is getting too much attention as it is - maybe next time, Little Brother!)