“Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.” – Oprah Winfrey
Animal welfare and animals in general ignite passions within people. Sometimes, this passion can become a platform for negativity and I know my Facebook wall can sometimes be overwhelming with stories and pictures of abused animals followed by seemingly well-intentioned people trying to use these pictures to ignite passion in the form of donations, volunteering or “sharing” on their own wall to spread the message of animal rescue.
In previous postings, I have discussed the need to rise above the negativity of animal rescue, and keep your focus on the goal of helping animals. But I know full well that it is often seen as an easier path to unleash your negative energy by bashing or admonishing others for their lack of involvement in animal rescue, rather than by supporting them, thanking them or collaborating with them on a common goal. While releasing your negative energy through admonishing someone may make you personally feel better in the near term having released your frustrations into the stratosphere, this negative approach brands the animal rescue movement as unstable, irresponsible or even crazy and it ultimately hurts the overall cause for animals. After all, who wants to be involved with such negativity? We all want to be involved with something positive, uplifting and inspiring, not something constantly displaying negative images and postings, or attacking who we are based upon our choices of food or how we care for our own animals.
If you have ever taken a drama class in school, you likely learned how to channel your energy and emotions to exhibit a certain type of character trait or personality in the person you are seeking to become. The instructor teaches you how to cry, act angry, seem aloof and even how to solicit empathy for your character. They teach you how to utilize your past experiences to visualize the effect you are looking for and then “act” it out for the audience. Imagine if we could all be acting out compassion, love and empathy for animals instead of trying to guilt, cajole or otherwise attach a stigma to a person as “not caring” for animals. What kind of a positive image would this create on the animal rescue community?
I have tried through this blog and through the brand that Doobert exhibits on social media, to bring together rescuers in a common cause, with a compassionate voice, to inspire others to join us and support each other as we save animals. I know that if we work together we can accomplish so much more and I am committed to a collaborative community, common resources, and sharing of best practices and information if it helps to save more animals.
What can you do to channel your frustrations into positive, empathetic and supportive messages?
How can you inspire more people to join the cause?
