What An Animal Shelter Taught Me About Embracing Change

Many of you may not know this but, I love dogs! I’m borderline obsessed with them. I mean, I stop almost every dog I see walking with its owner on the street, just to say hi. I read doggie books, and I even volunteer at a local animal shelter here in New York City. So by now, you’re probably wondering if I have a dog, and the answer is actually, no. No pets are allowed in my NYC apartment building. Woe is me. But, I digress…

It’s been almost 3 years now that I’ve been a dedicated volunteer for a local animal shelter, and I have truly enjoyed every minute of it!

Until recently.

The shelter recently hired a new Volunteer Coordinator, and she has kind of come in and really uprooted everything. Although the volunteer program was in need of some serious re-organizing and re-structuring since the previous Coordinator resigned a year and a half ago, she has really taken it to another level.

These drastic changes within the volunteer program started off with a mandatory, three-hour long meeting downtown, during which she had a Powerpoint presentation outlining all of the changes that she is implementing. Ultimately, she dropped the bomb that All of the volunteers would have to schedule an appointment to do an interview with her, and then participate in a couple of additional training sessions on top of that, if we’d like to continue volunteering at the shelter.

Now let me first say that, I want what’s best for the dogs, and the program, and I am typically very open to, and excited about change. But, I must admit, this kind of rubbed me the wrong way. Why, you ask?

Because I have an extremely busy schedule, and already struggle to make my weekly volunteer shift in the midst of my current responsibilities. Also because, I already went through training when I first became a volunteer there, and have lots of experience with dog walking, and training. My experience includes, a short stint as a dog walker/trainer, 3 years of hands-on experience at the shelter, and knowledge as a result of reading lots of books about dog behavior, health, and care. Ok, and I might as well throw in my obsession with Cesar Millan, “The Dog Whisperer”, and also Animal Planet. So, why would I, three years into this, need to take more time out of my busy schedule in order to appease this new Director?

The fact of the matter is, I’m feeling like, maybe there’s a part of me that hates change.

Do you ever find yourself in a situation like this? You preach and preach about how change is good, and you embrace change, and are so open to it. Then something happens, and you realize that maybe you don’t really love change all that much after all?

Well, here’s what I’ve realized. If I want to continue to volunteer there (which I do), I’m going to have to get over it, go through the interview (again), and do the training. Either that, or I can quit. But, I am not a quitter.

After all is said and done, this will probably end up being good for me, the volunteers (new and old), and for the doggies. Once I’ve completed the training, I’m sure I’ll say, “it wasn’t that painful”, and over time, this new regime, will become just as comfortable to me as the old one.

Are you currently fighting change tooth and nail, with the determination to not “give in”? Is there a new person in your life, workplace, or industry that is pushing you towards making some changes that you’re not ready to make?

If you are hesitating, like I did initially, maybe you should reconsider.

Maybe the change that you’re trying to avoid, is exactly what you need to move your life, relationship, business, or career to the next level. Maybe this new thing won’t be as bad as it seems. Maybe it’s the only way to bring significant improvements to something that isn’t working in the best way it possibly can.

Think about it.

If you have some thoughts to share, please leave them as a comment below, and feel free to Tweet this post, and share it on Facebook as well.

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