Do You Know Who Your Vet Tech Is?
What do they do, these vet’s assistants?
They have the best job ever!
All day with kittens and puppies they play
Getting wags and kisses – so clever!
You’d almost pay to have their day
It just sounds so life-giving…
Vet technicians are almost magicians
Turning snuggles into a living!
What you don’t realize with those stars in your eyes
Kisses aren’t all they are getting.
Listen up, listen well – get a clue
And you’ll find out what techs really do!
Welcome to Veterinary Technician Week, a week that recognizes those who support veterinarians in caring for pets. There's a lot of misunderstanding about what vet techs do - let's clear that up, shall we?
Vet technicians – what people think they do:
- Play with kittens and puppies all day
- Assist the veterinarian with all the fun things they do
- Play with kittens and puppies some more
Vet technicians – a partial list of what they really do:
- Check on animals hospitalized overnight,...
Do You Follow or Do You Flaunt?
Are you a rule-follower or a rule-flaunter? Most of us are firmly in the “it depends” category. Most rules we follow, some of them to the letter, and some we think don’t even apply to us or shouldn’t be rules at all. So why are there rules and why do we follow them?
A pair of researchers, Sven Steinmo and Celine Colombo, set about to understand why people follow rules, why the impulse or need to have and follow rules exists, and how well it’s working for humanity. They found that norms of trust and cooperation need to be an intrinsic part of members of society in order for that society to thrive and prosper. You don’t have to look very far to see where rules came from – religions, races, and governments have been the impetus for complex sets of rules intended to govern and control the behavior of the people in their sphere of influence.
Why do people choose to be part of something that seeks to control their behavior, even to the point...
Do Your To-Do's Include You?
Caution: cliché alert!!!
- You can’t pour from an empty vessel.
- Almost everything will work if you unplug it for a few minutes – even you.
- We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.
Yes, you’re right – this edition of the newsletter is about self-care. July is Self-Care month and yesterday was International Self-Care Day. And if you’re like nearly everyone else, me included, self-care isn’t at the top of your to-do list each day, and it needs to be, for both of us.
Why? Don’t make me point you back up to those cliches, ok? The reason phrases become repeated so often that they become trite and clichéd is because – drum roll please – they’re true. They resonate, and have resonated for decades, if not hundreds of years. And yet here we are, talking about how we neglect our own self-care.
How can we make our own care a priority? First, give yourself credit for the things you already do for yourself:
- ...
Can You Forgive, and Do You Even Want To?
About 120 years ago a phrase came into being: “get out of the doghouse.” If a couple had a fight and one locked the other out of the house, unless there was a barn on the property, the only shelter was likely to be the family dog’s house. Hence, a bid for forgiveness was characterized as a bid to get out of the doghouse.
Humans have a difficult relationship with the concept of forgiveness. We get irritated by the behaviors of others every day in small ways, and sometimes even suffer hardship, hurt, or loss through the actions of others. Both the small slights and the larger ones spark a level of negative emotion pointed toward the perceived perpetrator. Behavioral scientists agree there are at least two components to forgiveness, emotional and behavioral, and while there’s not a lot of research on them, it’s likely that most acts of forgiveness include a blend of both. Let’s look at two examples where an offense is given, and forgiveness might be...
Are You Living Up to America's Dream?
In the US, today is the day we celebrate the birth of our nation. It was 247 years ago that the Revolutionary War ended and the Declaration of Independence was signed. The ideals put forth were revolutionary at the time, especially the idea that people should be the architect of their own lives, free to pursue faith, family, and fortune without undue government interference.
Fast-forward a couple of centuries and American life looks very different than it did back then. We’ve moved from subsistence farming and small businesses in small towns to a nation full of mega-businesses, mega-banks, mega-mergers, and a mega-government complex sporting a mega-military and mega-tax collection complex. The pressure to live up to the American dream of success and even excess is high, and sadly, the reality of rising stress and depression is keeping pace. As the world becomes more electronically connected, people are often feeling more disconnected.
This Independence Day, think about your...
Does Resilience Really Matter?
Today is the anniversary of the birth of Helen Keller, a woman whose life was a portrait of resilience. Even today, 143 years after her birth in a northern Alabama hamlet named after a Chickasaw tribal rainmaker, people share her ideas about happiness and leading a useful, productive life. Schoolchildren learn about how she overcame her disabilities and graduated from Radcliffe College, which is now Harvard University. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, her statue stands in the US Capitol building, and a movie about her young life and the teacher who was able to find a way to reach her, The Miracle Worker, won two Academy Awards.
Illness – probably meningitis – when she was less than two years old left Helen Keller deaf, blind, and without language. Since she couldn’t hear, she didn’t have a way to even know words existed. Since she was blind, she didn’t have a way to grasp the abstract concept of objects and their descriptors. The fact...
Carving Out Caring Time for You
If April showers bring May flowers, you know it’s time for peek-toes, flip-flops, and bare feet very soon! That’s probably why today is National Mani-Pedi day – gotta get those foot-tootsies summer-ready. Yes, even if you’re a dude, the benefits of carving an hour or so out of your day for pampering is a highly recommended experience.
Taking care of yourself with things like manicures, pedicures, facials, and massages can sometimes feel self-indulgent and maybe even wasteful. It’s not – taking care of yourself is giving yourself permission to relax as you allow someone to help you look and feel your best. Making time and space in your life to do things to help you live well and be healthier is, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, the perfect way to manage your stress, increase your energy, and reduce your risk of illness.
There – did that get your attention? NIMH wants you to get a mani-pedi this week!
Self-care helps your...
