Progress 2010

No. Not another cat photo. I know.

I promise you though, I'm not a cat lady. The felines just keep giving me all these parallel stories that can't be overlooked.

After all the fighting that the incumbent King cat, Ed, has been doing in resistance of the newcomer cat, today, I found him grooming the kitten (he insists this was photo shopped).

Honestly already, you say, where is the parallel story?

Well, after all the Christmas greetings in the mail and seeing a lot people at several holiday events over the past several weeks, I found my heart extremely heavy with the brokenness that I see. There have been insults, rudeness, guilt tripping "should-upons", martyrs gone wild, manupulating madness, sensationalized stories that cause a glazing over in my soul, and then there's beautiful blind denial. There's more, but you get the idea.

Don't get me wrong, there were plenty of good things too, but this year was particularly laden with crazy stuff. I tried to respond with love, but didn't always hit the mark.

I think the best response I can offer as I start 2010 could be summed up in Michael Jackson's "Man In The Mirror" song (seriously, listen to those lyrics).

Today I sat and examined some things I need to work on myself. I set a few goals. I went running. I made nice hand gestures at passersby. All that felt good.

I also looked over some goals I wrote down last year and saw the ones I hit.

The parallel?

Some of the things I wrestle with like crazy now will eventually be my friends if I stay in the process, like Ed and the kitten. It may take several scratches, headlocks and head thumps to the floor, but it will happen.