I love this video.  It popped up late last year and quickly went viral, for obvious reasons.  So funny – a fat cat that hates exercise as much as the rest of us.

There’s lots to enjoy here – the disapproval of the cat, Cinder-Block (yes really), as she meows her discontent and looks straight into your soul.  The ridiculous physical comedy of her single paw pacing on the treadmill like some kind of “I Love Lucy” sketch.  The voice of the trainer, encouraging and hilarious as he tells her she’s a good girl.

It’s that last I was reminded of today.  And thinking about it, Jason (the trainer and encourager-in-chief), is the real hero here.  He takes Cinder seriously, both her effort and her annoyance.  He doesn’t let her off the hook – she stays there in the water, one paw stepping, meowing her complaint.  But he doesn’t try to make her do more, or yell, or tell her she’s not working hard enough.  No, he tells her “that’s good work”.

I’m sure he thought it was funny too – but what he chose to relay to Cinder was empathetic acknowledgment and unironic encouragement.  That regardless of how it might look, he knows her effort is effort, and not-so-pleasant at that.  He stays with her in that moment.

I don’t know that we always treat each other (or ourselves) with this level of dignity in similar circumstances.

What might our world look like if the assumption was that everyone around us is making the honest effort they can in any given moment?  Not the maximum they’re capable of, but still, there they are in the water, keeping things moving even if they don’t particularly feel like it.  What if we responded to ourselves and others from this point of view?  Not judging each other to work harder or better.  Not giving up on each other because our results seem so small.

Everyone I’ve talked to during the pandemic has voiced this struggle.  “Am I doing enough?  Am I making the most of this time?”  And inevitably, we are comparing ourselves positively or negatively to the efforts we perceive from others.

But you should know…

You are seen.  Your struggles are real.  Your efforts are acknowledged.

That’s good work.