Life is all about learning lessons, and having a pet is like being in a class that never really ends. No matter what kind of animal you get, they’ll have a personality that you’ll discover every day.
They’ll have opinions about things like what foods they like or what activities they don’t enjoy that you’ll need to learn to get close with them. They’re also going to be learning about you, and in return, pets provide qualities that help people be more successful in their lives.
If you think owning a pet is all about running to the pet store for food and cleaning up after them, think again. Read on to learn how owning a pet can make you a more successful person.
You’ll find yourself becoming better at things in your work life and at home that will make you happier than before you found your animal sidekick. Plus, you’ll get a furry friend who will love you unconditionally and always give you a reason to smile.
1. Learn Responsibility
The first lesson you learn with any pet is how to be responsible. Their wellbeing is entirely in your hands from the moment you take them home, so you have to adapt quickly. You need to think about things that they’ll enjoy or that could hurt them wherever they are, like fun toys or a garbage can full of food they’ll want to get into but can’t eat. You’ll also find yourself learning to think ahead about situations like how they’ll be taken care of when you can’t be with them.
2. Become Proactive
Being proactive means that you’re always looking for solutions to problems before there’s ever a chance for them to actually occur. You’ll be looking ahead so that your pet doesn’t run out of food or medicine when you won’t be able to get more. You won’t see a household mess as anything other than things your pet might or could destroy and how you can put them out of reach.
Being proactive will roll over into your work life, helping you prevent problems and impress your boss and coworkers.
3. Schedule Naturally
If you’re looking to take a hamster home, you might not need to schedule much for them, but puppies are a different story. It’s easy to fall in love with a tiny, furry pup, but you’ll need to schedule many vet appointments in their first six months for vaccinations. Scheduling will keep your pet’s health on track and help you efficiently work through your day-to-day responsibilities.
4. Maintain Lower Stress Levels
When you’re not running to a vet appointment or pet playdate, your pet will actually reduce your stress. Being around them will make you a happier person and help you forget about your worries.
If you’re not sure if it’ll work for your high levels of stress, shelters are a great outlet for volunteers to care for animals. Many use volunteer management tools such as an application portal on their website for those who wish to volunteer.
Try to work volunteer hours into your schedule to get one-on-one time with animals without needing to take them home. You’ll be able to feel the difference in your stress and anxiety as soon as you’re tossing a tennis ball for a dog or petting a purring cat.
5. Find More Compassion
Once you know the feeling of an animal depending on you for everything, you become a more compassionate person. You’re able to see their struggles and celebrate their successes, so you’ll more easily find yourself considering the other side of the story when people come across you in your life. It’s always good to be compassionate toward others since it puts more positivity in the world and creates a better place to live.
6. Get Better at Picking Battles
You might come home from a long day at work to find that your cat has scratched up your curtains trying to climb them, or your dog has carefully unstuffed your couch cushions and decorated the floor with cotton fluff. Other times it might be a chewed shoe or stained rug. You’ll learn to pick your battles quickly. Some of them aren’t worth fighting, because you’ll know your pet well enough to know if it’s a one-time accident or not. This new outlook helps with friends and family too!
7. Keep Your Emotions in Check
When you do have those moments where you feel so mad at your pet you could explode, you’ll know how to keep your emotions in check. They won’t understand what you’re yelling or really anything other than that something is wrong. Going over the top with something like your tone might just scar them emotionally and fail to teach them anything. The same goes for people, who won’t respect you or change at all if you act out of emotion instead of reason.
8. Learn How to Love Life
Pets are always finding ways to show you joy in your everyday life, so soon after you bring your pet home, you’ll see the bright side of things more easily than you did before. The simple act of feeding them will make you both smile. Waking up to each other every morning will become your reason to get out of bed. Having that kind of positivity in your life will shine everywhere you go, spreading the happiness to anyone you’re around.
Even with the challenges they bring, pets will change your life in positive ways and make you a more successful person. You’ll know how to think ahead, schedule in advance and have a happier attitude from the moment you wake up. In time, you’ll notice that you have more patience with people because your stress levels are down and that you’re more willing to listen to others because you’re more compassionate than before.
Trying to achieve just one of these goals isn’t a reason to go out and adopt a little life, but you can get all of them in a cute package deal by providing a home to an animal in need. Whatever pet catches your eye, they’ll change you for the better, and that will make everything around you seem a little brighter.
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