Post by michele5611 on Jan 3, 2011 21:49:15 GMT -5
www.semissourian.com/blogs/1452/entry/38630/
Every year I purchase an American Pit Bull Terrier calendar. The full size kind that can accomodate small notes regarding what I need to do in a day's time. For me, this has been an effective means of keeping me on schedule but it has also come to represent the endless need for me to lend my particular talents to too many different areas.
I always use a red pen to make notes on these calendars. In my case, I can tell you over the first 11 months of 2010 I took approximately two weeks of combined time off, including weekends. Someone very dear to me pointed out the fact that I was not working a traditional job, yet had zero time to myself. This was a phenomenon that was slowly taking a heavy toll on my psyche. When everyday of your life is laid out in red ink, eventually, you will start unraveling.
Dog training and rescue is extremely rewarding work. It does not pay well and can have a devastating effect on one's personal life but it is a vocation I will likely never walk away from completely. This being said, I must once again share the changes already in place and being laid out for my future.
Last month I temporarily discontinued my blog entry. This was because I am in the process of moving to another area. I will still be in Cape Girardeau County but it was time for me to remove myself from the pressures of what life had become for me in Cape Girardeau. I suppose this could be a form of running away but the relief was immediate. Now if I could get enough of my furniture moved to be able to sleep on something besides an air mattress, I would be feeling even better about my decision.
If that was not radical enough, I also returned to the work force in what I can only describe as the first normal employment I have had in quite some time. My days have been long and I have had very little time off but for the most part, they have been satisfying. What makes this even more unique is the fact that it is work as far removed from dogs and rescue as ditch digging is from singing opera. I needed this break. I have allowed the ugliness of human nature to taint every aspect of my life.
For the final month of 2010, I had a calendar page that noted only the date of a Christmas parade my girls participated in and the reminder for their heartworm medication. I just stood and stared at it in amazement.
We as rescuers and shelter workers must be able to do whatever it takes to heal ourselves. If we allow the stupidity of irresponsible owners and the ignorance of the unconcerned masses to affect us in ways that are detrimental to our mental and physical well being, we become ineffectual in our mission. When we become ineffectual, we make mistakes. Our mistakes cost animals their lives. That makes it all the more important for us to guard our well being and hold it precious.
I have made some very radical changes in the past few weeks. I am still trying to reorganize and get back on the right track. My lack of contact recently has been more about adjustment on my part than it is about non-interest in the demands on my time.
When I do come back on line, you will find me a more efficient advocate for the dogs. I am going to be dropping some of what I have been involved in because I have allowed myself to be spread too thin to be effective in all of the areas I am being pulled. To this end, you will find programs like the Puppies for Parole training and community Canine Good Citizen programs will be my number one priority.
Thanks to dear friends I will also be exploring programs aimed at our young people. Some of these kids may be considered at risk, I would prefer to look at them as simply ready to be taught. It means little if they have been trampled by society or if they have been physically impaired; they are the future of animal ownership. It is easier for them to see the realities of irresponsiblity because too many of them are also the by-product of our own stupidity. We may not be about to make "stupid" illegal but we can sure put the hurt to it!
For the next few weeks I will be gradually re-entering the canine arena. I have purchased my 2011 Pit Bull calendar and am using a green pen to mark my commitments. If there are no other certainties for me in the coming year, I have promised myself to never allow red ink to be the driving force in my life again. Watch for a new era in rescue and public education to begin taking shape. The old ways must die and there is no better way to begin than with ourselves.
To my family, friends and loved ones I wish for a year of brightness and endless possibilities. We all need a chance to heal and regain our strength. For me it began with something as simple as a green pen.
Every year I purchase an American Pit Bull Terrier calendar. The full size kind that can accomodate small notes regarding what I need to do in a day's time. For me, this has been an effective means of keeping me on schedule but it has also come to represent the endless need for me to lend my particular talents to too many different areas.
I always use a red pen to make notes on these calendars. In my case, I can tell you over the first 11 months of 2010 I took approximately two weeks of combined time off, including weekends. Someone very dear to me pointed out the fact that I was not working a traditional job, yet had zero time to myself. This was a phenomenon that was slowly taking a heavy toll on my psyche. When everyday of your life is laid out in red ink, eventually, you will start unraveling.
Dog training and rescue is extremely rewarding work. It does not pay well and can have a devastating effect on one's personal life but it is a vocation I will likely never walk away from completely. This being said, I must once again share the changes already in place and being laid out for my future.
Last month I temporarily discontinued my blog entry. This was because I am in the process of moving to another area. I will still be in Cape Girardeau County but it was time for me to remove myself from the pressures of what life had become for me in Cape Girardeau. I suppose this could be a form of running away but the relief was immediate. Now if I could get enough of my furniture moved to be able to sleep on something besides an air mattress, I would be feeling even better about my decision.
If that was not radical enough, I also returned to the work force in what I can only describe as the first normal employment I have had in quite some time. My days have been long and I have had very little time off but for the most part, they have been satisfying. What makes this even more unique is the fact that it is work as far removed from dogs and rescue as ditch digging is from singing opera. I needed this break. I have allowed the ugliness of human nature to taint every aspect of my life.
For the final month of 2010, I had a calendar page that noted only the date of a Christmas parade my girls participated in and the reminder for their heartworm medication. I just stood and stared at it in amazement.
We as rescuers and shelter workers must be able to do whatever it takes to heal ourselves. If we allow the stupidity of irresponsible owners and the ignorance of the unconcerned masses to affect us in ways that are detrimental to our mental and physical well being, we become ineffectual in our mission. When we become ineffectual, we make mistakes. Our mistakes cost animals their lives. That makes it all the more important for us to guard our well being and hold it precious.
I have made some very radical changes in the past few weeks. I am still trying to reorganize and get back on the right track. My lack of contact recently has been more about adjustment on my part than it is about non-interest in the demands on my time.
When I do come back on line, you will find me a more efficient advocate for the dogs. I am going to be dropping some of what I have been involved in because I have allowed myself to be spread too thin to be effective in all of the areas I am being pulled. To this end, you will find programs like the Puppies for Parole training and community Canine Good Citizen programs will be my number one priority.
Thanks to dear friends I will also be exploring programs aimed at our young people. Some of these kids may be considered at risk, I would prefer to look at them as simply ready to be taught. It means little if they have been trampled by society or if they have been physically impaired; they are the future of animal ownership. It is easier for them to see the realities of irresponsiblity because too many of them are also the by-product of our own stupidity. We may not be about to make "stupid" illegal but we can sure put the hurt to it!
For the next few weeks I will be gradually re-entering the canine arena. I have purchased my 2011 Pit Bull calendar and am using a green pen to mark my commitments. If there are no other certainties for me in the coming year, I have promised myself to never allow red ink to be the driving force in my life again. Watch for a new era in rescue and public education to begin taking shape. The old ways must die and there is no better way to begin than with ourselves.
To my family, friends and loved ones I wish for a year of brightness and endless possibilities. We all need a chance to heal and regain our strength. For me it began with something as simple as a green pen.
I look forward to learning much here