Rescue Journal

round 2/7

Carol  ·  Nov. 19, 2013

the fire alarm went off at 0330..what a great way to get me up and running 3 hours early.
luke de puke fussed until midnight..."please let me back in...."
no freaking way and I am tired today...crappy night sleep.

honestly, beagles are like people..."I didn't do nothing wrong, I am a good dog...it was that little black blind dog's fault."

the problem with chance in the playpen at my side is...while I am typing this, he has pooped three times. I have cleaned him up and tossed out the towels but the smell lingers for a little while.
nice.

thx to who ever put milk in the fridge...I stole some for the cats last night and my tea this morning because I forgot to buy some again....I seem to have a recurring mental block about buying milk.

most likely working 7 in a row was a bad idea when I am so stressed...after last night, today would have been a good day to hang out with the buddies on my bed. oh well..maybe next week...I am sure there will be other nights coming of more crappy sleep...it is kind of a given recently.

well I better get dressed and poke the diabetics, the only way to get thru this is to embrace the countdown....day one is done and 2/7 here we go again!

Comments

Brigid

I have so much admiration for you, Carol - what a wonderful philosophy of life to live by. You are so right - on the mornings we can wake up and remember all the things we have to be grateful for, the day goes much more easily. I'm so glad you have the support system you need in place; yes, we get overwhelmed occasionally, but out-of-balance in one place can often be re-balanced in another. And the love of the animals is worth so much...

Carol

thx may..i have read this before. not to worry I am not in any danger of burnout yet..at least not by their definition. no doubt this is one of those really sucking rescue times...but once the septic is settled, once we hire a new fulltime staff person, things will get much easier than they are now and we are on the road to solving both of those..we just are not quite there yet.

I believe that sometimes life is tough and getting thru the tough times is no kind of fun. but I also believe that in comparison with some of the really sad and difficult lives I witness both in nursing and in rescue..i truly am lucky. I live with 120 incredible animals, I am surrounded by an army of kind, caring and committed staff, supporters and volunteers, and outside of rescue, I do have a life...I have an incredibly great family that I love dearly, and I have a job that I actually really enjoy (on less busy days at least!)...I will take the occasional tough stuff here because really, the gifts in my life are many.
can't be too seriously burnt out if i count my life so full of blessings...I just have to remember to do it periodically!

May

Carol, I am so dreadfully worried about you. There is a website you might want to check out. It is an article by the National Animal Interest Alliance called Burnout: The Monster in the Rescue Closet. Website is http://www.naiaonline.org/articles/article/burnout-the-monster-in-the-rescue-closet and is well worth reading.

I must admit to having many of the feelings described in the article but cant buy in to the suggestions for preventing burnout. It would mean having a life outside of rescue and thats a sacrifice that Im not prepared to make at this time. To me, rescue is something that I have been called to do and I need to answer that call regardless of the cost to me. I do, at times, feel overwhelmed but fortunately so far have been able to pull my socks up and the feeling passes. I sincerely feel for you and cant imagine the stress that you are under. I truly hope better days are on the horizon for you.