[pyrnet] The Four Phases

["Barb Bowes" <bamb@monmouth.com>]

  This was sent to me privately, and I thought "most" of you could benefit
from reading it, whether you "do" Rescue or not. You probably know someone
who "is" involved in Rescue.   Barb Bowes

  The Four Phases
  by Douglas Fakkema

  Those of us who work on behalf of and who dedicate our lives to
  animals go through four phases in our career evolution.  As we are
  unique, so are our individual stories, but we all go through a
  similar process, and if we survive that process go on to understand
  that we have achieved what we wanted in the first place.

  PHASE ONE

  Red hot and raring to go, we are out to change the world.  We are
  high on life.  We know we can make a difference, that our efforts on
  behalf of animals will ease their plight.  We work what seems like 25-
  hour days yet are energized.  Our enthusiasm overflows, our capacity
  for challenges is limitless.  We eat, sleep and live in the cause for
  animals.  Our friends don't understand our obsession and turn away or
  just fade away, and we let them for we meet new ones.  Some of us
  though don't make new friends, we're too busy working for animals.

  Some of us become loners with only our canine or feline companions to
  keep us from total isolation but we're content because we have a
  cause.  In our zeal, we tend to affix simple solutions to complex
problems -
  every animal should be sterilized or no animal should be euthanized.
We're
  often late because we try to rescue animals from highways and streets.  We
  think we understand the problem and we know we can fix it if only people
  would get out of our way.

  PHASE TWO

  Our phase one enthusiasm has turned sour, the bubble bursts and we crash
and
  burn.  We see the same people coming into the shelter with yet another
  litter - they haven't heard our message.  We continue to euthanize, there
  seems no end to it.  Even our friends - those we still have left - don't
  understand us.  We can't seem to reach
  anyone.

  Animals are still abused and neglected, their plight seems unchanged
  despite all our efforts.  We've lost the boundless energy that
  characterizes Phase One.  We no longer wish to talk about work, don't even
  want to admit where we work.  We're tired all the time.  We go home from
  work, lock the doors, turn out the lights, turn off the answering machine
  and close the window blinds.  We're too exhausted to cook so we scarf fast
  food, pizza, potato chips or chocolate.

  Some of us buy useless objects we can't afford.  Some of us turn to
alcohol
  for it takes away our feelings of hopelessness.  We ignore our families
and
  even our pets get less attention than we know is right.  We seem powerless
  to affect any of the changes that drove us
  to such ecstacies of dedication in Phase One.  We have become
  horrified by the work we have to do.  Even our dreams are filled with
  the horror.  Every animal we take in, every animal we euthanize is yet
  another nail in our coffin of defeat.  Somehow we're to blame for all our
  failure and it's destroying us.  Raise the shields Scotty, the Klingons
are
  on our tail!

  Our shield gets thicker and thicker.  It blocks the pain and the sadness
and
  makes our life somehow tolerable.  We continue on because every now and
then
  we get a spark of Phase One energy.

  PHASE THREE

  Our phase two depression has turned outward and we're mad as hell.
  Hopelessness turns to rage.  We begin to hate people, any people and
  all people unless, like our co-workers, they dedicate their lives to
animals
  the way we do.  We even hate our co-workers if they dare question us -
  especially about euthanasia.  It occurs to us, let's euthanize the owners,
  not the pets.  Let's take everyone who abuses an animal or even surrenders
  an animal and euthanize them instead.
  Our rage expands to our out-of-work life.  That guy in front of us on the
  highway, the one who's in our way, euthanize him too.  We rage at
  politicians, television, newspapers, our family.  Everyone is a target for
  our anger, scorn and derision.  We have lost our perspective and
  effectiveness.
  We're unable to connect with life.  Even the animals we come in contact
with
  seem somehow distant and unreal.  Anger is the only bridge to our
humanness.
  It's the only thing that penetrates our shield.

  PHASE FOUR

  Gradually, and over time, the depression of Phase Two and the anger of
Phase
  Three become replaced with a new determination and understanding of what
our
  mission really is.  It is big picture time.  We realize that we have been
  effective - locally and in some cases regionally and even nationally.  So
we
  haven't solved the problem - who could - but we have made a difference
with
  dozens, even hundreds and sometimes thousands of animals.  We have changed
  the way others around us view animals.  We begin to see our proper place
in
  our own community and we begin to see that we are most effective when we
  balance our work and out-of-work lives.  We realize that work is not our
  whole world and that if we pay attention to our personal lives, we can be
  more effective at work.  We understand that some days we work 14 hours and
  some days we knock it off after only 8.  We take vacations and we enjoy
our
  weekends.  We come back refreshed and ready to take on daily challenges.
We
  see that all people are not bad.  We understand that ignorance is natural
  and in most cases curable.  Yes, there are truly awful people who abuse
and
  neglect animals but they are a minority. We don't hate them.

  When we find them we do all we can to stop them from hurting
  animals.  We recognize that the solutions are just as complex as the
  problems and bring a multitude of tools to the problem at hand and use
them
  any way we can and we begin to see results - one small step at a time.  We
  reconnect with the animals.  Our shields come down.  We understand that
  sadness and pain
  are a part of our job.  We stop stuffing our feelings with drugs, food or
  isolation.  We begin to understand that our feelings of anger, depression
  and sadness are best dealt with if we recognize them and allow them to
wash
  over and past us.  We recognize our incredible potential to help animals.
  We are changing the world.


  I've noticed that some people get frozen in Phase One (the zealots), or
Two
  (the zombies), or Three (the misanthropes). Some shift back and forth
  between Two and Three and even between Four and Three or Four and Two.
Many
  leave animal work during Phase Two or Three, never to return.  Some seem
to
  move rapidly to Phase Four, while for others it takes years and years.
Some
  never get a sense of peace to go along with our purpose, they work their
  entire lives on the frantic pink cloud of phase one or depressed or angry.
  I know I've been in all four phases in 25 years in animal protection.  Can
  the journey from Phase One to Four be speeded up?  Can we avoid the pain,
  discomfort and agony that goes with the journey?  I wish I knew.