Episode #34 - Getting It Done

On this episode of the podcast Julie will teach you to embrace fear when facing your goals and dreams.  In order to become the person that you want to become, you must allow yourself to set goals and then follow through.  Julie will walk you through some action steps to get your goal on the calendar and start becoming more productive today.  She gives you the tools to start taking specific action to get something -anything -done. 

Check out this episode!

Goodbye Sweet Pete

Two short months ago I wrote about my family’s old ailing cat Peter and his terrific attitude as he battled cancer.  This Labor Day weekend, on his 19^th birthday, we sadly had to say our final goodbyes.  Peter, in his unendingly sweet and beautifully brave way, purred and leaned into my hand as he gradually fell asleep under the effects of the tranquilizer that I administered in anticipation of his euthanasia.

Peter came into our lives, along with his two sisters, 19 years ago - the Friday before Labor Day weekend.  They had been found on a highway embankment by a good Samaritan who delivered the day-old orphans to my veterinary hospital for assistance.  I was the only doctor at the hospital that day that was a “sucker” for orphaned kittens, so I took them home for tube feeding and fluid therapy over the weekend. One of the two sisters died the first night due to their extremely dehydrated and weakened condition. They were newly born and had been outside exposed to the hot sun for an undetermined amount of time.  The two survivors were a jet-black male kitten (Peter) and a tabby female kitten (Punky Lee).    They needed to be tube fed for the first few days of their lives but once they were stronger, they adapted to a bottle. 

Originally, their names were Punky Lee and Frantic Ernie because the little girl was so small and punky, and the boy would eat so frantically and voraciously from the bottle that we always laughed at him and called him frantic.

My children were 4 and 8 years old at the time that we took in the kittens, and they were active participants in their rearing.  They held them in hand towels at night after their sink baths to keep them warm until they dried.  If you have never raised orphan kittens, they get very smelly without their mothers to clean them daily, so sink bathes with baby shampoo are a must.  The kids also learned to feed them bottles, when they were available to help with the frequent feedings.  As every veterinarian parent knows, at some point in the process of fostering animals the children will become emotionally attached to the fosters.  It was particularly true with Punky Lee and Frantic Ernie. As they grew, I could see my children becoming more and more attached.  I knew that we would soon have two more cats in the family, once they cried enough to Dad. 

Peter got his name after Dad was convinced that they needed to stay.  The kids thought that Frantic Ernie was not a dignified name for a cat, and they wanted something that went well with Punky Lee – the name that they liked.  They came up with Peter and started calling the pair, Pete and Punky Lee.   Pete (aka. Peter or Petey Wheatie) was such a sweet soul and spent much of his time with my daughter Bridget.  He would follow her into her bathroom at night to watch her brush her teeth and race her to the bed to be sure that he got the best spot to sleep with her at night.  He always settled into someone’s lap when we were sitting on the couch playing video games or watching TV.  He would purr and beg for treats whenever he was around anyone. He never lost his zest for food, tipping the scales at 17 pounds, before his veterinarian (yes, me) put him on a diet. 

As veterinarians, we strive every day to save and prolong healthy life as long as we can.  We sacrifice our time and money to foster orphan kittens, raise baby birds and rescue stray dogs for no other reason than it is the right thing to do.  We do not receive anything in return, except for the joy of watching that life that you saved unfold and touch others in a beautiful way.  Peter was one of those lives.  He lived and loved well and brought a tremendous amount of joy to our family.

This weekend we mourn our lovely little Peter.   He will be forever remembered and greatly missed.

“If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans.”  - James Herriot

Dr. Julie Cappel

Episode #33 - An Introduction to Enneagram

On this episode of the podcast Julie and her daughter Bridget give an overview of the personality profiling system Enneagram.  The podcast reviews each number in the Enneagram system, one through nine to help you begin to narrow down your type. Understanding personality systems provides you with another valuable tool to understand yourself and the way that you relate to the world. 

Check out this episode!

How to stop hating your job.

As I have been coaching people involved in the veterinary profession, I have noticed a common theme in many of their communications with me.  I hear things like, my job is too busy, the hours are too long, I can’t make enough money, and even the phrase - I hate my job.  I have also heard, “I feel trapped in this profession and don’t know how to feel better about my choice to go into veterinary medicine.”

Choice is the most interesting word when used in this context.  Many of us longed and worked for years just to gain a chance participate in this profession.  I begged my way into my first veterinary job with my now friend Dr. Morris.  I worked as a high schooler, cleaning kennels, walking dogs and assisting her and her technicians with their veterinary work.  I was in heaven.

You were probably once there too.  You chose to pursue your profession. I doubt that anyone forced you into it.  You were so focused on the fact that you wanted to do this work that you attended and paid for an expensive college degree.  You achieved your dream of becoming what you always wanted to be. 

What changed between the longing to work in this field and daily reality?

Thoughts. 

All the things that we say about the job being just too hard are merely thoughts that we have. If you tell yourself things like – I am not doing well, I am unhappy, clients don’t like me, and clients don’t care - you will create negative feelings about your life. 

Being a veterinarian is not my entire life.  I have a family, children, hobbies, and responsibilities outside of my work but being a veterinarian is a significant and wonderful part of my life. The challenges that I face daily, involving a variety of species and interesting scenarios, creates a challenging and fascinating career for me. I am grateful for the variety and newness of each day.

Is it easy to change your thoughts when you have so many that are negative?  Ah, No!  It is one of the most difficult things that you will ever do.  The work that you do to study and develop your mind is the most powerful and valuable work that you will do in your entire life.  If you examine your thoughts well, you will start to develop some sense of how your story has changed from one of loving your profession to being over it. 

Ask yourself some questions. What do you want? What are you looking for and why?  Once you have this list, just remember that they are all just thoughts that you have about your job.

It's about looking at how you interpret your thoughts about your job, and all of those things that have happened that you are using to define yourself.

I know that your journey may be extremely difficult because we all have many difficulties.  At the end of the day I am proud to be a veterinarian and I would rather be leading my veterinary life than any other life on earth.   

Work towards loving thoughts about your job and you will be truly proud of all of the amazing things that you do for your patients, clients and team.

Dr. Julie Cappel

"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.”  -   Steve Jobs