One of the main reasons you are here on Earth is to learn more about giving and receiving love. The two are inseparable. The following is a beautiful story, full of wisdom, about how a cat helped someone grow in this most important of understandings.

A few years ago I was lonely and ached for love, but did not realize that I needed to give love more than I needed to receive love. I had fallen into the trap of thinking about myself too much. Rather than trying to help someone else I looked to fill my own needs. It became a vicious cycle where the more I wanted and tried to get love, the further away it seemed. During classes at the Nature Awareness School I have heard Del say many times that the best way to get love is to give love. While I understood the words, I was not practicing them.

Then, during a class, Del suggested that I get a cat. Maybe having something to love, even a cat, would help. To me this suggestion felt like a lifeline, or one of those “In Case of Emergency” boxes, only this one containing a cat. I love how Spirit works. Where the human solution might consist of struggle or hardship, the Divine suggests a warm furry friend.

I went to the animal shelter praying for help from my inner guide, the Prophet, to find the cat that was right for me. I walked slowly through the aisles in the cat rooms, stopping to take out and spend time with one cat after another. Finally I got to the last row but still had not found my cat. I wandered into another room to hear an employee saying, “If you are looking for a cat who wants to sit in your lap and be loved all day, these are not the cats for you.” When I asked her where I would find those cats, she said that I needed to meet Bravo.

We returned to that last row and I met Bravo, who was as sweet and loving as she described. We sat and enjoyed each other’s company for quite a while. When I started to worry that someone else might adopt him if I did not bring him home right away, I knew I had found my cat.

Soon after, I was at home on the couch with Bravo feeling so much love for him. I felt like a light finally came on in a room I had not even realized was dark. Pouring love onto my cat is even more satisfying than the love he gives me. I was filling a need I did not even realize I had. Love is like breathing; you have to exhale before you can take the next breath. Having him to love changed everything.

Every day, Bravo opens my heart, and not only to him. Because I am open to give and receive love with him, I can accept love from friends, family, and even the Divine, which makes me want to give even more love. Thus begins an upward spiral of ever expanding love and joy. Loving him opened a door to accept the love that had surrounded me the whole time.

There is a ball of God’s Love that lives in my house. It is disguised in black and white fur that makes it look like a cat, but I know the truth. He has brought so much love into my life, so many blessings. I know he is a gift from God.

Written by Jean Enzbrenner