Caring for Others

My girlfriend does foster work with dogs and last week we were presented with the opportunity to foster 3 Great Dane puppies. I've always wanted a Great Dane, but I wasn't sure if we could handle 3 of them, along with the rest of the menagerie we already have. I wanted to do it, though, so they were dropped off on Monday night of last week.

What a challenge! Three 40lb dogs that aren't house broken, crate trained or socialized takes a lot of work! If I had taken on this task before, I would have easily been overwhelmed. However, even though there was a lot of things that weren't pleasant to do, I found that I wasn't annoyed or angry to do them. They are just puppies and they don't know any better. They don't understand what's going on.



So, instead of getting upset at all the work - cleaning up the accidents, long hours spent out in the cold and rain waiting for them to go to the bathroom, or being woken in the middle of the night by barking and sleeping on the couch near them so they would go to sleep - I went about my tasks with a mostly positive attitude. I could have gotten annoyed and yelled at them, but that wouldn't have done any of us any good.

In general, I find that I'm not as worried about myself and my depression when I have my sights set on helping others. It's a great feeling to know you're making a difference to someone, while maybe making a difference to yourself, too.