What my cats taught me about happiness

By Miss Wong Yuen Yan Yannie

 

Since “happiness” is our school theme this year, I began to ask myself what happiness actually is. I kept thinking for a few weeks, but I was not able to figure out an answer. It seems to be something easy to understand, yet hard to achieve.

 

One Sunday afternoon, I was patting one of my cats while it was purring. As you may know, cats purr when they are happy. An interesting idea flashed across my mind – maybe my cats are masters of happiness whom I can learn from. So, I decided to observe what makes them purr. To my surprise, I did learn something from them.

 

The first thing I learnt from my cats is that happiness can be having the companionship of your loved ones. One of my cats purrs whenever I pat it gently and give it all of my attention. No one likes to be alone all the time, not even for cats. I think of the happy moments that I have with my family and friends. A pat on the shoulder, a hug, a smile and even silly chats can bring happiness to me.

 

Please don’t laugh at me for the second thing I learnt from my cats – good food. Whenever I shake the bag of their favourite cat snacks, all my five cats will be right in front of me in no time, looking at me with widened eyes and loud purrs. I have no interest in cat snacks, but chocolate and chips do cheer me up whenever I am upset.

 

One last thing I learnt from my cats is that happiness is contagious. While I was observing my cats, I found myself smiling whenever they purr. While I was smiling at my cats, my family members gathered to see what had happened to us. We ended up playing and laughing together with the cats.

 

Thanks to my cats, I learnt that happiness is not something difficult to achieve. It can simply be some daily moments in our lives. What is your happiness?