We have a cat. He’s a rescue cat from the RSPCA. He has no real pedigree, he’s a domestic short hair (ie a moggy!). He was born with cat flu. His name is Jack and we love him to bits. Jack came into our family’s life in early 2014. We had never really been cat lovers, not that we had been cat haters either, for that matter, but we had never had a pet. We were always rather pet shy due to a pretty serious asthma gene running through the family; its full impact having been felt in 2013. So after a lot of nagging (from the teenager) and much capitulation (from the parents), we welcomed Jack into our home.

Maybe it was all in the timing and we needed something else to focus our attention on after a pretty dreadful year, but, in short, Jack has ensured that we are now ‘cat people’. Sometimes, the hardest part in making a change, is actually making the decision. We often underestimate how tough it can be to make the decision to change your job. Change can be scary. Is the grass always greener? Are the people nice? Will the job challenge me? Will I be able to travel there easily?

Change will always carry some risk, but the risks you take can be calculated ones. Stick to your list of objectives which are nonnegotiable, such as the job’s location (or, one hint of asthma and the cat’s out!). For those objectives, not quite as high up on your list, you can be more flexible, such as maybe the salary, if the job is close to home (or, OK, you can give him some tuna as a treat, just this once). Once you have your list of objectives, both negotiable and nonnegotiable you are on your way to making your decision to make a change. We did and we haven’t looked back Miaow!