Indeed, the world needs you to get uncomfortable with being a mouse. We may not realize it, but most (probably all) of us start as a mouse. Some stay a mouse all their lives while others choose to go beyond that.
We were definitely not fashioned to be a mouse! It's just a starting point. We just have to realize what we love to do while we're here on Earth and then do it. And we will evolve from a mouse to something greater. As long as we aren't doing what we love, what we truly love, we won't go past the mouse phase.
Like you said, many people will shrink themselves into a mouse just so they survive or/and fit in. They don't want to stand out, they just want to live a normal existence (which is quite fine up to a certain point). I think the proverb is not saying not to live a simple, "boring" life. No. What it's saying is don't live a life where you hide your true self just for the sake of fitting in. Don't let others bully you around. Be yourself and stand up for what you are and believe in while also hearing and accepting others around you. Just my 2 cents.
Sadly all of us in specific moments become mouses, sometimes we have not enough self-confident not to be a mouse. I am definitly not a mouse person but what i am saying that it might be an individual reaction in a situation.
As a mom, i think we are reponsible for raising mouse or cat persons, i do not like both personalities so i am trying to raise my girls to be confident and have the power to live without this mouse-cat proverb 😅
i like you wrote a step by step strategy for change.
do you think a cat person will like to change?
This paraghragh was very sad 🥺👇🏻
No human becomes a mouse because it’s fun. Often, we shrink to a mouse to survive or stay sane. We do it to avoid pain, to toe the line, to avoid outshining another, and to keep difficult people comfortable and their emotions contained.
I was a mouse for most of my life. I got so used to being caught and released by cats around me that it felt normal. At some point I had just given up on even wanting to be anything else. I just took things as they were: I would always be a mouse and couldn't do much about it. Cats would prey on me mostly emotionally. Some cats need to talk down to others around them just so they can feel better about themselves.
Took me some time to realize this. I also realized that no one, and I mean NO ONE, is stopping me from becoming anything else than a mouse. It's MY CHOICE. And one day, I made the choice of becoming something else. I didn't want to become a cat and "hurt" others. But I also didn't want to be a mouse anymore.
I became me, a person that stands up for herself and doesn't take abuse of any kind from anyone. At first, this massive change was very difficult for me and cats around were baffled. I wouldn't just lay down and take it anymore, I would fight back, sometimes very hard. Soon, most cats didn't even want to be around me. And that was just fine with me. The point is: we can choose, at any time, to be more than just a mouse.
"Give yourself permission to embrace being of value to the world, because you are." - I love this. It made me cry. It's so easy to forget that we are special, that we matter. In this speedy world, where we rush from home to work, from work to shopping and then home again and it seems and feels like there's never enough time to do it all - in this world, it's sometimes hard to realize you can just stop. You can stop the rush and take it slow. Stop and think of what you really want to do with your time here. If you realize you want to be a writer, why are you wasting your time being an accountant? If you love music why aren't you practicing it and being a policeman instead? I think the world needs more people to come alive, to realize that life doesn't have to feel awful and a struggle. WE make it so! And we can make it something beautiful. Something that feels fulfilling for us.
I have a few violent "cats" in my life. They're family members or coworkers and they've been scaring me emotionally for years now. It's just recently that I got enough of it and started taking measures to end it. I'm not talking to a few family members anymore (for the time being) until or if they change their tone with me. I told them what was bothering me and that I expect to be treated like a human being and not something beneath that. If they can't do it, then I don't want to be around them anymore. The same goes for coworkers. It wasn't me, it was them. I've stopped talking to a few of them, who are just mean to me and others around them. I hang out with people that appreciate me and make me feel good. And my life is much better for it.
#5 - German Proverb: Don't Make A Mouse of Yourself, Or Else You'll Be Eaten By Cats.
Indeed, the world needs you to get uncomfortable with being a mouse. We may not realize it, but most (probably all) of us start as a mouse. Some stay a mouse all their lives while others choose to go beyond that.
We were definitely not fashioned to be a mouse! It's just a starting point. We just have to realize what we love to do while we're here on Earth and then do it. And we will evolve from a mouse to something greater. As long as we aren't doing what we love, what we truly love, we won't go past the mouse phase.
Like you said, many people will shrink themselves into a mouse just so they survive or/and fit in. They don't want to stand out, they just want to live a normal existence (which is quite fine up to a certain point). I think the proverb is not saying not to live a simple, "boring" life. No. What it's saying is don't live a life where you hide your true self just for the sake of fitting in. Don't let others bully you around. Be yourself and stand up for what you are and believe in while also hearing and accepting others around you. Just my 2 cents.
Sadly all of us in specific moments become mouses, sometimes we have not enough self-confident not to be a mouse. I am definitly not a mouse person but what i am saying that it might be an individual reaction in a situation.
As a mom, i think we are reponsible for raising mouse or cat persons, i do not like both personalities so i am trying to raise my girls to be confident and have the power to live without this mouse-cat proverb 😅
i like you wrote a step by step strategy for change.
do you think a cat person will like to change?
This paraghragh was very sad 🥺👇🏻
No human becomes a mouse because it’s fun. Often, we shrink to a mouse to survive or stay sane. We do it to avoid pain, to toe the line, to avoid outshining another, and to keep difficult people comfortable and their emotions contained.
Assess, reset and change. Great motivation!
Potent warning for the discerning.
I was a mouse for most of my life. I got so used to being caught and released by cats around me that it felt normal. At some point I had just given up on even wanting to be anything else. I just took things as they were: I would always be a mouse and couldn't do much about it. Cats would prey on me mostly emotionally. Some cats need to talk down to others around them just so they can feel better about themselves.
Took me some time to realize this. I also realized that no one, and I mean NO ONE, is stopping me from becoming anything else than a mouse. It's MY CHOICE. And one day, I made the choice of becoming something else. I didn't want to become a cat and "hurt" others. But I also didn't want to be a mouse anymore.
I became me, a person that stands up for herself and doesn't take abuse of any kind from anyone. At first, this massive change was very difficult for me and cats around were baffled. I wouldn't just lay down and take it anymore, I would fight back, sometimes very hard. Soon, most cats didn't even want to be around me. And that was just fine with me. The point is: we can choose, at any time, to be more than just a mouse.
"Give yourself permission to embrace being of value to the world, because you are." - I love this. It made me cry. It's so easy to forget that we are special, that we matter. In this speedy world, where we rush from home to work, from work to shopping and then home again and it seems and feels like there's never enough time to do it all - in this world, it's sometimes hard to realize you can just stop. You can stop the rush and take it slow. Stop and think of what you really want to do with your time here. If you realize you want to be a writer, why are you wasting your time being an accountant? If you love music why aren't you practicing it and being a policeman instead? I think the world needs more people to come alive, to realize that life doesn't have to feel awful and a struggle. WE make it so! And we can make it something beautiful. Something that feels fulfilling for us.
I have a few violent "cats" in my life. They're family members or coworkers and they've been scaring me emotionally for years now. It's just recently that I got enough of it and started taking measures to end it. I'm not talking to a few family members anymore (for the time being) until or if they change their tone with me. I told them what was bothering me and that I expect to be treated like a human being and not something beneath that. If they can't do it, then I don't want to be around them anymore. The same goes for coworkers. It wasn't me, it was them. I've stopped talking to a few of them, who are just mean to me and others around them. I hang out with people that appreciate me and make me feel good. And my life is much better for it.