The next morning, my husband took a book and a chair out to the shed, intending to read, and to let Rusty get used to having him around. Rusty had disappeared. Somehow, that cat had managed to push the doors of the shed out just a little which left a space of a few inches at the top for him to squeeze out. We are now back to square one, but far less enthused about domesticating a cat named Rusty, or any other cat for that matter, feral or stray.

Then, a few weeks later, Rusty appeared at our bedroom window in the middle of the night, but when we talked to him, he left. Since we knew he was still in the area, we set food out on the balcony by our bedroom in hopes of attracting him to pay another visit.

The real questions are - how do we learn to release some of the guilts and regrets we have? How do we learn to accept ourselves, even when we feel so completely unacceptable? In the context of the metaphor... how do we learn to neuter those negative thoughts?

We end up trying to "kill" the thought by fighting against it... but as mentioned in that previous entry, fighting against something only serves to bring on another fight. Every time we say "I should" or "I shouldn't" we are fighting against ourselves and only serving to reinforce and build up our weapons against ourselves.

So now back to an example with ourselves...

Eventually, the "wild cats" (i.e. negative thoughts) come in, become "neutered," and then go back to their "neighborhood."

The next time you have a thought that isn't pleasant, observe it. That's it, just observe it. After a moment, let it go.

The following is a list of booby traps that will help to discourage cats and help you and kitty live together in harmony:

In the United States, some states are arguing that wild cats should be shot, but most are now dealing with the problem by using what is called Trap-Neuter-Return. When cats are trapped and brought to the local animal control premises on pre-arranged days, local veterinarian volunteers neuter the pets, and if finances are available, also give them rabies shots.The person who trapped the cats in the first place returns them to the area where they were found. Eventually, it is hoped that this will be a cost-effective method to control feral cat populations. Such programs have also been introduced in Australia and several other countries.

After he maintained this position in absolute silence for about an hour, I thought I had better help him get out. Stupid me. I grabbed the scruff of his neck and tried lifting him up. He flipped over on his back, clawing me for all he was worth, flipped back over and scooted behind a computer desk where he spent the next several hours. (I tried encouraging him to come out by pointing the vacuum cleaner hose in his direction but to no avail. He wasn't budging.)

Any way you look at it, though, by trapping, observing, and releasing your thoughts, you are allowing and accepting the natural flow of energy instead of impeding it. By stopping the "fight" within yourself, over time you will notice a progressively increasing sense of peace as you become more understanding of yourself, your thoughts, and your feelings.