More Black Cat Energy for Myself This Year
A Golden Retriever welcomes everyone. A Black Cat welcomes only the deserving. A Golden Retriever forgives. A Black Cat keeps score. Golden Retrievers chase. Black Cats choose.
Everyone is a potential friend to me. I see the best in people. Vulnerability comes naturally. I’m happy to see everyone. I want everyone to feel like they belong. Everyone is included.
I have a big heart that not everyone deserves.
In fact, you have to be kind of a jerk or give off bad vibes for me to NOT like you. And even then, I’ll try to withhold judgement for the first bad encounter. “They’re just having a bad day,” I tell myself.
You have to work to make me not like you. It’s all standard Golden Retriever energy.
On the flip side, I can gloss over people’s red flags. You have to make me not like you, so I am not always a good judge of character. I can be too forgiving.
When I was a teenager, I read The Rules, the 1990s bible for dating and relationships that basically espouses playing hard to get–a tactic that served me well in my dating years decades ago.
I remember thinking, “I need to be the mysterious quiet one,” a laughable idea if you know me.
Robert Greene’s book The 48 Laws of Power, #6 “Create an Air of Mystery” echoes this idea.I read this book because I needed to be aware of manipulative games other people might be playing.
Golden Retrievers can be easy targets for deceptive people playing power games.
As I get older, the Black Cat energy is coming more naturally to me because I am tired.
Here’s how I’m bringing more Black Cat energy this year:
Believing the vibes I’m getting from people.
Trusting my intuitive pings.
Listening more deeply and being slower to speak.
Allowing gaps in conversation, especially when I’ve asked a question.
Smiling more when it feels natural; less when I want to put someone else at ease.
Pursuing my personal style.
Sharing personal information only when it serves me.
Thinking something funny without sharing it. Saving the giggle for myself.
Protecting my time, energy, and attention.
I’m very comfortable with who I am and my Golden Retriever tendencies, but a bit of Black Cat energy will give me a better balance.
Are you a Golden Retriever or Black Cat? How do you find balance?