The veterinary environment can be rough. Mentally. Physically. Emotionally.

We often blame the clients, and their behavior, for our experience. But, it doesn't start there.
It starts closer to home.

Many of us experience work environments where gossiping and back-stabbing are the norm...
... where "us against them" is common...
... where nobody seems happy, and nobody feels safe.

In these environments, we turn on each other. We become self-righteous. We judge harshly. We become control-freaks and perfectionists. We think these things are useful. (They aren't).

Evidence of this can be found within the walls of our organizations, and also in how we interact outside of those walls.
> Every time we bash a neighboring clinic, it's proof.
> Every time we talk negatively about a referring colleague to a client, it's proof.
> Every time we believe there is an authority to fight against, it's proof.

So what are we actually trying to achieve with all of this anger? We are just trying to feel better.

See, anger is familiar, and it feels more powerful than fear and uncertainty. It feels justified and we justify it through blame.

But what are we really angry about? It usually boils down to one simple concept: The way things are is different than the way we believe they should be... and if they were different, we'd be happy.

We think we know best how things should be. We believe we don't have any power to change how things are. We believe that the way things are is the cause of our current quality of life.

When we believe we don't have power over our own lives, we often feel afraid. That fear takes many forms....

• fear of patient outcomes
• fear of client reactions
• fear of getting fired
• fear of not making enough money
• fear of paying off our debt
• fear of making mistakes
• fear of negative reviews
• fear of board complaints

You get the idea. Bottom Line: Fear feels terrible. Fear feels life-threatening.

Anger feels much better. It has become the veterinary industry's coping mechanism. Rather than tackle that which we are afraid of, we become angry.

Anger brings a false sense of control and builds a community of sorts with others who share in our anger. We become a profession of very angry people. That anger bleeds into every crevice of our hospitals, and onto our profession as a whole.

We think the solution is for other people to behave differently. We think the solution is for things to be different than they are. Thankfully, that is not the solution. The solution is in learning just a few things...

1. Fear is just an emotion, and its presence isn't a problem
2. Anger is always optional and gives away our power
3. There are very few things we control in this job, and that's okay
4. We can always choose to do our best in any situation
5. What happens next is something we decide for ourselves, always

Vet Med is simply the catalyst for Personal Growth. The time we spend cannibalizing each other in this profession is time we could be spending getting to know ourselves, and growing into the people we are meant to be. Instead, many of us stunt our own growth through anger, blame, and victim mentality. There is no power in that place. 

Your future is brighter than that. You dim your own light when you spend your energy focusing on that which you have no power to change. That same energy, focused intention

Music Credit: Music by Lesfm from Pixabay