Even a Cat Knows

I love giving Chinese tuina massage to my family members. Giving massage to someone is as soothing as receiving so when I feel tired, I massage my wife's legs and back. Now I know that sharing energy can activate it and giving is better than receiving.

I often give massage even to Amy, my 10-year-old cat (photo). I started massaging her a few years ago when my son (then two or three years old) started chasing her around. She became very nervous and when I patted her on the back, I often found her muscles very stiff. That's why I started massaging Amy.

In the beginning, she simply hated it. I know very well that massage on stiffen muscle is indeed very painful from my own experience. When my fingers sank into meridian points, Amy angrily meowed and bit my hands. So I had many small wounds on my hand for the first year or so.

After a few years’ practice, she now likes my massage. She sometimes lies at my feet and demands me to massage her. Although she still gets angry when I push too hard, she enjoys my massage, closing her eyes and purring comfortably.

When she really enjoys it, she rewards me with licking my hands. She licks my hands carefully to show her satisfaction.

A cat is said to be a very selfish animal. But Amy often simply cannot help herself from expressing how much she loves me. That makes me feel that loving someone and expressing love may be a basic instinct of animals with highly developed brains. Even a cat knows that loving is as good as being loved...

Hating someone or something is a part of our original and primitive design. But seeing my cat licking my hands, I feel love is also one of our fundamental desires that has been with us for millions of years. And we humans have free will to decide which we want to nurture. It's up to every one of us...