When I show up at places in my new job, I’m often met with “I hear you’re famous!”😃😂 I have to explain that I’M not famous… my cat is famous and every once in a while someone recognizes me as the guy who works for the cat.😻😑😂
There’s usually a 20-30 minute story time to explain the story and I’m not gonna lie… I love telling the story.😊

So many things have happened over the last 5 years that I forget some of the big, life changing lessons from the very beginning of all of this. I got to remember one of those today as I got to tell the story to a guy who is a bit older than me. And now I want to remind some of you about that one.

Look at this guy. I barely recognize him. He doesn’t look like me, to me anymore. He looks like an ad I’ve seen a million times. He looks like the cover photo for a cat story I read once. The parts I do recognize of him are those tired eyes. That chubby, tired face. No one knows this, but that guy was barely hanging on somedays.

That guy right there, felt like he had accomplished nothing of any importance in the world. He felt like he had let a lot of people that were very important to him, down. He felt like his dreams had passed him by and he must have not deserved those dreams. Those dreams must have been for someone else. He was basically counting down the days or months or years, until it would all be over and he wouldn’t be a disappointment or a failure or even a burden to his family and friends. He had every reason to be hopeful and happy and excited about the future, but life had beaten him down to the point where he couldnt always see that, despite the beautifulness standing right in front of him. He was so tired.

Now… literally no one knows that this guy felt like that other than the guy writing this. You don’t tell people you care about, that you are barely hanging on. That makes it seem like it’s their fault and it’s not. They are the GOOD things. They are the things you love and you would never want them to feel what you are feeling. Thats just another burden you’d be laying on them. It seems better to be quiet and silently and almost hopefully somedays… wait for the end of all of this. That’s how I felt.

Then I went to work one Friday morning. And I thought nothing about it. I had no thoughts other than it was Friday and I had a meeting that I didn’t want to be at but that’s what I did. Things I didn’t want to do, for reasons I didn’t care about, for money I didn’t even want. Had I really thought about it that morning, it would have just been one more day checked off the calendar. One less day, to feel all of that I just told you about, up there. I had recently made a wish to somehow be able to give people hope, and a pastor had even prayed with me about it. I had forgotten that wish and that prayer already on the way to work that morning. I was about to be reminded.

On this Friday morning, I found a cat. Or I should say, a cat found me. This cat had been severely abused and obviously needed some help. I didn’t do anything that I feel like any other normal caring human being wouldn’t have done, but somehow, this tiny moment was different. There was a cosmic shift as they say. Maybe it was the cat. Maybe it was the wish or the prayer? I don’t know but man, it was different.

I wouldn’t know for several days after that meeting but my life had just changed. And in amazing and wonderful ways, I could have NEVER imagined. Dreams began to come true and were no longer out of reach. I was living them. Failures began to be erased and replaced by pretty big accomplishments. Things I never even thought of… getting schools built for street kids in Pakistan, my books being used to teach English in Kenya or to give a little hope to orphans in South America; wild accomplishments that never had even been on my radar. All because I stopped for this kitten.

Disappointments that were entirely made up by me and my depressed mind, disappeared. What was there to be disappointed about? Nothing. Connections began to be made, all around the world, and I began to have wonderful and enlightening conversations with people from every walk of life you can image. From street kids in Pakistan to an afternoon with Dennis Rodman. Life got weird in all the best ways and it’s still beautifully weird today. All because I took a minute to stop and help this kitten.

One of the biggest and I think most relatable and transferable feelings was suddenly, the folks or situations that had really hurt me at points in my life, didn’t matter anymore. They all made sense now. I couldn’t be here, without leaving those things behind. They had to go, no matter how much it hurt at the time. I now saw the reason. I had a purpose to get to and those people, places, situations… wouldn’t have allowed me to get to it. And it was important. I had to go through that, to get to here.

I’m sad when I look at that guy in that photo but I’m so glad he hung on. Imagine what he would have missed?

Now… you. Hang on. Please, for your buddy, Chuck… hang on, friend. Life’s hard. I know, man. It’s some bullshit sometimes. But then it swings back. It comes back around to the good stuff and sometimes we just have to wait a bit longer than we’d like. Wait for it, friend. Wait for it… it’s coming back around. And if it’s not… change your situation. Make it come back around but just don’t quit. Please. Don’t quit. 🙏🏼♥️

Today, I dont want to check off days of the calendar. I want that time to go so slow… the slowest days ever. I’m not a fan of that clock or calendar. I don’t want my time to ever end now. I have things to do. I do know it will though, so I want the time I have left to be so productive and all in the name of helping as many people as I can before I have to split. I want to leave the most beautiful memories and when people think about me, I want there to be a smile. I’m gonna do my best to make sure that happens. Stick around with me and see what all you can do. You never know what’s gonna change your life/world/situation. I found a cat. That’s it. Your cat might be coming tomorrow. Hang on friends. Please, hang on.♥️

The biggest hugs, from and old dude and his cat.♥️🐾🤙🏼