The NAPRP Blog

Aug 22

Written by: NAPRP Admin
8/22/2009 7:13 AM

For me this has been one of those weeks where it feels like everyone wants something and I'm being pulled in 25 different directions. Plus, I was having technical difficulties with a project I was working on. Nobody was happy, least of all me.

Many of us experience days or weeks like this where you just feel like you're doing everything wrong. The problems are insurmountable and it feels like you'll never get to everything you are "supposed" to do.

Here's a radical notion: you don't HAVE to do anything. Not really. Life is full of choices. For example, I'm sitting here thinking that I have to feed my dogs. (Maybe because they are staring at me.) But do I really?

There's a difference between the fact that the dogs need to eat and the notion that I have to feed them. I could ask my husband to feed the canines tonight. Maybe he wouldn't be thrilled about it, but he'd do it. Maybe the real problem is me being afraid to ask because he might be unhappy about it.

That's a tiny example that illustrates what can be a much larger problem. If you are wandering around feeling miserable, stressed and burned out, part of it may be because you are worrying too much about pleasing others. Have you ended up embroiled in projects that don't make you happy? Maybe it's time to have a difficult conversation and just let them go.

It may sound hedonistic, but life should not be all misery and strife. Yes, you do important work saving homeless pets. But you can't do it all alone. If some aspect of your work is making you unhappy, you really don't HAVE to do it.

If you give the task to someone else who actually enjoys it, you have more time to do the things you love. Doing work that is important to you and gives you joy is vital to your well being. And when you're happy, the critters know it too!

As always, thank you for all you do to help the animals ;-)

 

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