Experiencing More Joy

People that work in healing professions like ours, have more that their fair share of tragic stories. We experience life and death with regularity as our patients present to us in various stages of health and disease.  In veterinary medicine we also have people that come along with our animal patients. Those people have problems of their own, in addition to a sick pet and they often want to share their sad stories with us.  Some of them have terrible things happening to them that they tell us in excruciating detail.  It is wonderful, in a way, because it shows that they trust and value us like family.  The down side is that we can feel overwhelmed by the amount of empathy needed to navigate our work day. 

We may think that the problems of our clients and patients are ours to take on, but in truth they are just part of everyone’s everyday life.  Life is not easy or fair. Life is made of opposites: darkness and light, pain and pleasure, prosperity and scarcity,  joy and sorrow.

What if you could be joyful all the time?  Would you want to? 

The easy answer is yes, but if we really think about it, we require sorrow to know joy.

How can we experience more joy and still have the compassion and empathy that we need to navigate our typical veterinary day?

Imagine more Joy:  Practice being mindful of emotions.  It may sound difficult, but we can control the way we experience even the saddest of situations by looking for the positive in it.  We have the capacity to change our narrative. Searching for the positives in a difficult situation helps us experience it in a new way.   Thinking things like, “It is a good thing that I am here for this family in their time of need.  I can really help them navigate this situation.  I have the experience and strength needed to help them make a difficult decision.”  As you work your brain into a more positive thinking space, you will train it to go there first.  You will spare yourself negativity and move more quickly into a joyful frame of mind.

Let go of worry:  Worry is a useless and wasteful emotion.  You cannot change the past or the future no matter how much you worry about it so why indulge? One way to combat worry is using your mind to look at the worry thought from a neutral perspective.   When a worry thought arises, step back mentally and really look at it.  Is this thought serving you in any way?  Analyze the thought and see it for the joy thief that it is. Let it go.  Worry has no place in a joyful day.

Work on gratitude:  I know that I have said this before, but the truth is that working on gratitude daily helps people have a more positive and joyful outlook.  Take a moment to write down anything that you are grateful for, and make it a habit. You can be grateful for anything.  If you are consistent in a gratitude exercise you will train your mind to look for the good things in your life.  You will, in turn, experience more joy.

Being the best veterinary professional and bringing more joy to your life can go hand in hand.  It may take some mental practice, but if you imagine joy, let go of worry and search for gratitude with your patients and clients, your thoughts will bring joy to your best veterinary life.  

“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”

 William Shakespear, Hamlet

Dr. Julie Cappel