How to Be Abby

INTRODUCTION
Who is Abby?
Abby is my cat of course. We have had her now for over 17 years and she still amazes me. Just the other day I caught her sleeping with her tongue out. How cute is that. In case you're a cat lover she is a calico. She brings so much joy and happiness to our life even though she sleeps 20 hours a day. And when she sleeps it's so peaceful just to look at her. A cat that has been with us for over 17 years is no longer a cat but a family member. We treat her as if she's one of our own kids. My daughter would argue and say a cat looks upon its owners as its own kittens. So now I wonder who's taking care of who? Recently, she started to limp as she has some arthritis in her leg. A 17-year-old cat is 84 in human age. I don't want to think about it, and I try not to think about it, but I know one day she won't be with us. With this in mind, I try to cherish each day and each moment with my lovable cat. I read somewhere that the name Abigail, or Abby for short means ‘happy’ or ‘joyful’. And this is why I chose the title to this book called ‘How to be Abby’. A cat’s guide to happiness. So, lets begin to our guide to happiness!

I like being happy, who doesn’t? I love taking long walks with my wife and daughter. Walking on a trail surrounded by trees and nature is so calming and relaxing. On the flip side I also like shopping. Buying stuff or even dreaming to buy stuff that you can’t afford is somewhat hypnotic. I think about what kind of stuff I would buy if I won millions of dollars. A sports car? A cottage on the lake? A new house with all the latest bells and whistles? Or how about a house in the Caribbean? So many things to think about. My wife and I even love watching TV shows that center upon buying homes somewhere exotic where its warm and near the sea. So nice to dream and think about all the possibilities. BUT WAIT A SECOND! This book is about Abby. Abby doesn't live in the Caribbean or drive a fast car or go shopping. She sleeps most of the day. She pretty much eats the same food day after day with some exceptions of me sneaking in some unhealthy human food to her of which my daughter blames me for her being overweight. The things that make Abby happy are siting outside and eating grass, then puking shortly after. She loves to sit in the sun and scratch herself on anything that is made of concrete. And the one thing that makes her happy (I say this because she purrs forever) is to basically sit our lap while we watch TV. How simply is that. My wife says that she would love to be reincarnated as a cat. Is there a connection to being happy and being a cat? OK ABBY…What are your secrets about being happy? NOPE. NO answer from Abby. All I get is a lot of purring and wanting me to pet her. Its time to see what ‘google’ says about how to be happy…

How to be happy
When we Google how to be happy, we get a lot of information. We get 25 Tips to be Happy, 15 Scientifically proven ways to be Happy, all sorts of videos, many great books, and even quizzes and tests that you can take to see how happy you are. The information that is available is phenomenal. I can't believe how much wealth of information is out there on how to be happy. I know I want to be happy but I'm not sure how do I get there. When I read through some of these tips and ways to be happy it all seems good advice to take. I even tried some of these quizzes or tests that give you a happy index score on how happy you are. Generally speaking, the quizzes say that I'm doing OK. The one thing that I am realizing from all this information is that if you want to be happy then you need to put effort into being happy. But when I look at Abby, I don't see her putting effort in trying to be happy. She just seems to be happy overall. She's not doing anything when she's sitting on my lap, but I know she's happy because she's purring. She's not doing anything when she's sitting in the sun scratching herself on the concrete, yet I know she's happy because she's purring. So, I seem to be confused right now if you need to put effort or not into being happy? Guess the next question to ask myself is what the difference in trying to be happy or more precisely doing things to be happy versus simply being in the state of happiness. Is there a connection between doing versus not doing to get happiness? The one thing I do know is that all these questions that I'm asking are not making me happy. If anything, I’m making myself more confused and frustrated because there seems to be more questions than answers. So, what do I do now? I think what I need to do is to find out what is the definition of happiness.