Wagaliciousness Begins Here!

Do you drink out of your water bowl enough? OK, so it’s me drinking out of a water bowl – water is good for me, good for your patients and good for you, too.

Most humans don’t drink enough water, and can feel cranky, headachy or just mentally exhausted. You could keep a water bowl on your desk – maybe a better idea is to keep a big jug of water there and make it your goal to finish the jug each day.

You might be shocked to see how much easier your days feel when you’re well-hydrated.

I’m Kacey and I love veterinarians! ‘Scuse me…I gotta go drink out of the water bowl…or maybe the toilet bowl!!

Do you wish you had more courage?

I’m pretty courageous now but I remember when I was just a little puppy how big, sudden sounds scared me. I got more courage and you can too.

The more days you live, the more different experiences you have, the more courage you’ll develop. Part of courage is the willingness to try again, the willingness to learn and the willingness to say you’re sorry if your actions hurt someone else.

It takes a lot of courage to be authentic, open and caring – and since you are the definition of a caring person, you’re already more courageous than a lot of people.

When you have courage in the small things you’ll trust that you also have courage in the big, sudden scary things too.

I’m Kacey and I love veterinarians!

Is your hospital having a stressful day?

I do now and then, especially when I find something fun to chew on and mom loses her mind!

Sometimes it feels like everyone is a gas can and you’re all waiting for someone to toss a match, right? That’s a terrible way to feel and a worse way to try to care for patients.

Can you all take 5 minutes at lunch to just sit and breathe? Put the answering machine on, lock the front door and all of you get together, shut off the lights, sit quietly and take long, slow, deep breaths.

Call a “take 5 breath break” daily if you can and watch the stress fall off of you and your team like hair falls off of me.

I’m Kacey and I love veterinarians!

When something is hard, do you give up or do you let go?

Those may sound like the same things but there’s a vast difference. When you give up you usually feel defeated and deflated – you’ve given it your best and you’ve been bested. That’s not a powerful or successful way to feel.

Instead, try letting go – say things to yourself like “things have worked out before and this probably will, too” and let it go.

Give it to your deity of choice to take care of and focus your energy on other things. This allows you to leave space for a solution to come to you, and frees your talents up to be used elsewhere.

I’m Sandy Weaver and just like Kacey, I love veterinarians!

Do you do the same exercise routine over and over and over?

Mom got me a treadmill…boooooooring! There aren’t any squirrels to chase…that would make it fun!

Anyway, if you do the same workout every time your body will get used to it and it won’t be as effective. The good news is that you can probably do it without thinking about it – the bad news is, your muscles probably want you to switch things up.

Think about other workouts you could do and plan to do a new one this week. Do the new workout only one day – do your normal one the rest of the time. Then maybe think of another different workout you could do and add that workout one day next week.

That’ll give your body three different workouts and that’s enough to make any body happy!

I’m Kacey and I love veterinarians!

Do you ever beat yourself up for taking shortcuts?

Maybe you didn’t feel like cooking and picked up a rotisserie chicken and a couple of ready-to-eat side dishes? Mmmmmmm…chiiiicken…can I come over for dinner?

Seriously, you work hard, so if that little voice in your head is saying you’re a bad mom or bad partner because you aren’t cooking wholesome meals from scratch every single night, use that mental stop sign we’ve talked about before.

Your clients probably think of you as SuperWoman – that doesn’t mean you have to hold yourself to that impossible standard.

When you take shortcuts where you can, you give yourself more time to enjoy your family, and you’ll feel more like enjoying them too!

I’m Kacey and I love veterinarians!

When was the last time you had a pedicure?

To be honest, I don’t get why humans love those things so much…I hate it when Mom grinds my nails and cuts the hair between my toes…ugh!!

For most humans pedicures are seen as luxuries – you don’t treat yourself to one very often because it might feel self-indulgent. Treating yourself is just what Mom orders, and even though she’s not a doctor, she is a wellbeing expert so you can trust what she says.

Treat yourself to something indulgent – a pedicure, a massage, a facial, a new Fendi bag – whatever feels good to you. And then remember to admire the results often and bask in that good, taking-care-of-you feeling.

I’m Kacey and I love veterinarians!

Do you keep a journal?

I did once – Mom chased me all around the house trying to get it out of my mouth. She likes to write in it each morning and I just wanted to see what was so special about it…sheesh!

If you ever sit down to write about what you’re grateful for and nothing pops up, it’s not because everything sucks, it’s because you have so much to be grateful for that it’s hard to focus in on just three things.

Relax…take a deep breath…and it’ll come to you. The earth rotates and revolves, giving you a wonderful place to live…how’s that for starters?

I’m Kacey and I love veterinarians!

Do you ever feel like a situation is hopeless? That’s a bad way to feel, isn’t it?

Kinda like when my favorite squeaky ball rolls under the couch – it feels like nothing I can do will get it back out. Like magic, though, it always reappears somewhere I can get it and squeak it and throw it in the air.

If you’re feeling stuck in a hopeless situation, it helps to remember that you’re not the only one expected to make it all better. You’re surrounded by people who can and will pitch in, and like magic, the hopeless situation can morph into a success, a better outcome or just a valuable learning opportunity.

Things always work out, even when it feels hopeless to you. And it’s not magic – it’s allowing others to be part of the solution, just like how Mom takes my squeaky ball out from under the couch.

I’m Kacey and I love veterinarians!

Is there a song with lyrics that inspire you?

Mom named me after the Kacey Musgraves song, Follow Your Arrow. It’s a song that talks about how other people will judge you, no matter what you do, so you might as well do what makes you happy.

Was there ever a time in your life where you realized that you couldn’t possibly be what everyone wanted you to be? This person wanted you to be one way, another person wanted you to be another way, and so on?

Because you’re a caring person it’s easy to try to be what other people want you to be – just don’t give up who you are at your core, no matter what. Follow your arrow because that’s the only way to live the life you were born to live.

I’m Kacey and I love veterinarians!