Things change, and then we deal with it

Change is something that the majority of people find scary. Understandably so I think. Reaching out of your comfort zone to something that you might not have any idea whether or not will be successful. Whether cutting your hair, changing your style or moving half way across the world. Change will always be scary for the simple fact that it is different. For example a lot of people get nervous starting a new job. What if you don't do very well? What if the people, who have already established friendships, don't like you? What if you aren't as good as you think you are? There are a whole ton of things to be anxious about and it is completely natural.

However, change can be good, change can be positive if you know how to embrace it and do it right. New Years is a time when a good chunk of the country decides to make some mostly positive changes. In most blogs this is the time when the author would go on to list out all of their resolutions. I however, don't do resolutions. I'm just not that type of person. I firmly believe that if you want to make a change in yourself that strongly then it can be done immediately, not waiting for some arbitrary date that really doesn't mean anything. 'New year = New you' No thanks.

Making these changes however is a positive thing that I can greatly appreciate. It should be noted though that change is not something that happens just because you will it so. It requires time, effort and a healthy dose of motivation to make those resolutions happen at whatever time of year.

Bringing this haphazard post back to life at the shelter. Things here are about to change quite dramatically. With the money raised through Dawson's Lights, lots of building work will be starting soon, a new enclosure and new volunteer quarters. The other volunteer here leaves in less than a month, opening a vacancy that will have to be filled. In the upcoming months baby animals will start arriving, throwing my current schedule out the window, leading to a huge increase in work, and reducing the likelihood of getting more than an hours sleep at a time to almost zero. A lot is changing but really, compared to leaving home behind and moving to Canada, nothing can scare me anymore so I am going to embrace it, learn from it and hope that it will all work out in the end.

2013 Retrospective

As the new year approaches, it is around this time that many people reflect on the year just passed and look forward to a fresh start, I am no exception.

There is a lot of sentiment going around at the moment that 2013 would be a year best forgot. For the wildlife shelter and sister trail riding business I am currently working at especially. The combined efforts of a fatal liver disease in black bears and multiple, expensive and damaging horse injuries, means that this year has been pretty rough for the people here. For the rest of the world it has not fared much better. The devastating effects of Typhoon Haiyan, the ice storm that has ravaged eastern Canada, ruining Christmas for thousands, and a frankly indescribable attack on a soldier in my home town of London are just a few of the atrocities that have left the world shaken and full of negativity.

However so much has happened this year to be happy or to be proud about, that has gone unreported on international news, and thus unnoticed by millions of people who don't actively search out this information. For example a 3 year old girl born with HIV has been functionally cured of the virus, speed limits have been put in place for boats travelling along migratory routes of whales in order to protect them, dozens of new species have been discovered all over the globe and the world has a pope that doesn't support the judgement of homosexuality, questions the church for it's outrageous spending and even sneaks out at night to feed the homeless. Despite being an atheist, and generally opposed to the church, I think this is at least a step in the right direction, therefore a positive on my list.

Finally a little closer to home for me, you may remember that a few weeks ago I made a post about a fundraiser at the shelter that had the potential to raise CAN$20,000 thanks to an anonymous donator. Well thanks to the generosity and support of people all across the world we hit our goal, and the Christmas tree in Smithers, B.C is glowing with the light of 800 bulbs that were bought to raise the money. The Christmas period not only gave us a beautiful tree here at the shelter but the arrival of a new little bear, aptly named Tinsel. It was found living harmoniously with a bunch of chickens in a coop, around 30-50lbs underweight and sent to us on Christmas eve. It is so small that the chickens it was sharing food with were bigger than the bear itself.

In some ways 2013 was a difficult year but no-one said life was easy and that bad things wouldn't happen. The key is to embrace it and know that there is always good news out there, even if you have to do a little searching.