Merlin has an automatic food bowl that only he can eat from (as part of his diet plan). He can’t eat from anyone else’s bowl because only his microchip works to open his bowl covering (and no other cat bowl). He must bow his head close, and the bowl opens. However, somewhere in his past experiences, Merlin believe his paw opened the bowl, not his microchip in his neck. So he sticks his paw onto the bowl, tapping it like it’s a magic wand. When it doesn’t work, he assists the paw by giving it help with his head. Obviously, the microchip now works.
It was never the paw working so hard to make something happen. It was always the bowed head. I remember this as a pray each morning. I think what I’m doing for God makes all the difference, when really, I have it all wrong.