Thinking, not overthinking.

Have you ever wished that you could live in the present moment, make firm decisions, and never worry about anything? Many of the world’s most successful and happy people do just that much of the time. They do not spend their time overthinking decisions; they consider the options, make a choice, and deal with the consequences of their decision. 

Overthinking is the primary cause of a worried, unfocused, and unsettled mind. The bad news is that many of us are natural over thinkers, developing a pattern of worry based on our past life experiences. The good news is our thoughts are under our control, and we can learn to overthink less and become more settled.

Before we can change our thinking, we need to become aware of why we worry and overthink. Take some time to explore your past thought patterns and think about your fears. Many of us overthink due to our fear of future failures based on something that happened in the past. We may worry about a client yelling at us, based on the fact that someone yelled at us before. We may overthink a surgery that we had a problem with in the past. 

We want to change our overthinking to make us happier and healthier. Worry and overthinking cause stress and can have emotional and physical tolls on our bodies. Chronic overthinking has been shown to suppress the immune system making us more susceptible to disease. 

How can we change our overthinking?

Work to let go of the past. When negative stories come up in your head, try to accept the past without dwelling there. Learn from your mistakes, but do not fear making more. Strong decisions require that we make the best choice based on the information that we currently have. Worrying about choices from the past will keep you stuck in inaction.

Take control of your emotions. Being present and living in the moment does not mean avoiding your negative emotion. You need to feel your feelings and learn about the thoughts behind your emotion. The more we fight our negative emotions, the stronger they may become. Working on your thoughts will help you to change your feelings.

Focus on solutions. Much of the stress created by overthinking is the thought that there is no solution to our current situation. If you take one small step towards solving the problem, you will start to work out the overthinking paralysis. 

Overthinking may feel normal at times, but it may prevent you from taking action and creating your best life. When overthinking is causing you physical or emotional pain take some small steps to get more focused on the present.

Dr. Julie Cappel

“Whatever you hold in your mind on a consistent basis is exactly what you will experience in your life.” - Tony Robbins

Mindset Matters

The longer I work in veterinary medicine, the more I learn about my mindset and how it matters to my overall life experience. So much of what we feel both physically and mentally comes from our thoughts, whether we realize it or not. I always think of myself as having my head on straight and feeling in control of my life, but when my brain gets stressed and overwhelmed it can derail me.

Much of our mindset is developed during childhood and is developed through our experiences. We can embrace a positive or negative attitude depending on past situations and memories. We can lean towards a fixed or growth mindset depending on whether we were praised more for our intelligence or effort.

Many of us struggle with our negative mindset because we don’t accept ourselves for who we really are. We are focused on how our life should be, and we argue with reality and push ourselves to keep up with others in our circle or social media. In truth, we need to start with self-love and realize our value as unique humans. We are worthy just because God created us. That does not mean that we cannot strive to be and feel happier, but we need to remain faithful to ourselves. You will feel much better if you compare yourself to yourself and not someone else.

A fixed mindset believes that we are born with a fixed amount of intelligence and abilities. A growth mindset believes that with practice and effort, we have limitless potential. We all practice a combination of fixed and growth mindsets, so observe where you are in each circumstance. Do you feel stuck in your abilities or open to learning? It matters what you think about yourself when you are faced with challenges. If you believe that you are helpless, you will remain where you are. If you feel that you can learn and grow, life will open up to you.  

When you feel overwhelmed with your life, surround yourself with positive people who love and support you. Talking and laughing with family and friends can do a great deal to improve your mindset. Family and friends will also help you open up to challenges by supporting you in your goals. We all struggle occasionally, and having a solid support system at home and work is imperative to improving your mindset.

This week I vow to work on my mindset by accepting myself as worthy and appreciating my relationships with friends and family. I will work towards possibilities by embracing growth. Work on your mindset this week because it matters.  

Dr. Julie Cappel

“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” - Wayne Dyer.

Practice, patience, and perseverance

Today is Super Bowl Sunday, and I am watching along with about 100 million other people. This year the big game features the LA Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals playing at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. The pregame build-up on NBC, including the players' backstories, always reminds me of a very simple life lesson that we can all take away from the spectacle. Practice, patience, and perseverance are three main ingredients needed to create success. 

To reach the pinnacle of your profession, you must continually practice your craft. To practice is "to perform (an activity) or exercise (a skill) repeatedly or regularly to improve or maintain one's proficiency." In the book, Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell says that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at something. As veterinarians and leaders, we are familiar with the fact that we need to improve continuously. We may struggle with the mistakes that inevitably come with practice, but the only way to learn and grow is to continue to work at it. 

Patience is a virtue, but we don't always think of it as getting us ahead in life. Patience, it turns out, is what most people at the top of their game possess. Take Matthew Stafford, for example. He played with the Detroit Lions for 12 seasons before moving to LA. Now he is playing in the Super Bowl. You might say that he ran out of patience with the Lions, but he stayed there, perfected his craft, then pushed forward to get where he wanted to go.  Those who lack patience will invariably quit before making it to the top. Veterinarians practice patience every day with clients and with pets. Although patience is not my strongest quality, I know I have to embrace it to stay present and engaged for my work.

Perseverance is "persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success." Perseverance also involves patience and the ability to take rejection and failure. The author of the Harry Potter Series, J.K. Rowling, manually typed out each version of her first book to send to publishers because she could not afford a computer. She was rejected twelve times before finding a publisher whose daughter loved her book. If she had not persevered, we would not have the books, the movies, and the theme park at Universal Studios, Orlando, and J.K. would not have piles of cash.

I hope you enjoy your Super Bowl Sunday, even if you only watch the game for the commercials or the half-time show. Remember that even the silly commercials took practice, patience, and perseverance to create. Anything worthwhile does.

Dr. Julie Cappel

The applause.

Last week I wrote about my trip to Dallas, Texas, to attend the new opera, Zorro. It was a fantastic trip and a beautiful Opera, but what made it even better was the visit with my daughter and son-in-law. They are incredible people and are prime examples of people who dedicate their lives to a craft they love. Years of work lead to brief moments of glory on stage, performing for an appreciative audience and applause from opera fans.

It makes me think about our veterinary profession that, in a way, it is much like performing. Granted, we do not get to sing or dance - unless we are making TikTok or Instagram videos - but performing our daily duties as veterinarians is much like rehearsing and performing on stage. We spend years of study, patiently practicing, to get to the dream of our veterinary work. Much of it can become mundane, and we start to feel burned out, but the rewards are sweet when we get them. They can be like applause at the end of a performance.

Just yesterday, I was excited to see a patient of mine. He is a 28-year-old Quaker Parrot (Monk Parakeet) that has been suffering from heart failure for over two years. His lovely and kind “Dad” brought him in for his annual wellness checkup with me to discuss his progress and give him the OK to continue with his cardiac medications. This bird and its owner have a strong bond. They spend their days together, and the owner remains dedicated to his care. He cooks for him, gives him several medications twice a day, carries him around the house as he can no longer fly. When I saw him last year, he was so weak that the owner had him in a shoebox with no lid. The bird sat there in the box and allowed me to examine him and listen to his failing heart gently. This year was much the same, but I can honestly say as sick as he is, he looked better than last year.  As I finished my exam and talked to the owner about continued care, I told him that the bird was only alive today due to his dedication and meticulous care. He then said to me, “We would not be here without you. You are the best, doc.”  I wished them well and promised to see them both next year, God willing. 

Those two sentences from a kind and dedicated pet owner feel like applause to me. Appreciation from our clients and healthy pets' lives is our veterinary reward.

Dedication is a tough road. It is often unrewarding, and critics can beat us down, unhappy clients who leave us negative reviews or call to scold us when we are running behind. Like the Opera singers, we do it for the successes, when we get the audience appreciation and applause at the end of our performance. When we get the diagnosis right, make the save, perform the successful surgery. That is our applause.

Try to appreciate the little bursts of applause that come to you this week. Bask in the appreciation of your clients and patients. Look for those moments and enjoy them. Take your bow because you put in the hard work to get to where you can save animals and help people. That is what it is all about. 

Dr. Julie Cappel

“The applause of a single human being is of great consequence.” - Raymond Hull