With the exception of two medications he’s finishing up and a couple more follow-up visits to the vet, my formerly über sick feline, Tucker, is healthy, home and back to normal. What a ride his illness was.

One of his medications is a small pill, while the other is a liquid administered via dropper. When we first started the routine, he’d let me hold him, open his mouth and I’d make sure the required doses went down without a hitch. As he regained his strength, the struggle began to wear on me…but the fact that he was no longer weak and could put up a fight made me happy.

The other day, I decided to place the minuscule pill in his food to see if he’d eat it. Sure enough, he did.

A few days later, the small vial of liquid medication accidentally spilled while I was trying to fill the dropper. To my surprise, Tucker scurried over, lapped up the spill and wanted more.

Sheesh.

Sometimes we anticipate a fight when in reality things end up going far more smoothly than we imagined. We go to the trouble of strong-arming something only to find out that such force was unnecessary.

Was the struggle imagined? Real? Based on past experiences? Amplified because of our own fears and feelings?

The answer is yes, to at least one of those. Live and learn, I suppose, but hopefully we learn through the years that the fight is not always worth it. Flexibility and open-mindedness, however, can often go a long way — and for knowing that, I am thankful.