By Cara Evans
Paragon President
Is it cliché to write about gratitude in the month of November? If it is, oh well, here it goes!
As a professional in the pet space, it is SO easy to lose sight of daily gratitude. Compassion fatigue, schedules, hustle (even when it’s the “healthy hustle”) all take a daily toll.
When I was grooming full-time, it took me years to master the practice of daily gratitude, and it is still something I have to actively choose.
During my grooming days, difficult dogs, equipment problems (I was a mobile groomer), traffic, client needs, and just my impatience for progress toward my goals would dull my sense of gratitude. But when I started to really practice daily gratitude, it had a positive effect on my daily life and mental health.
Dogs, and even people, react to energy. Do you ever find that your days feel frazzled? Maybe you’re running behind, a dog isn’t cooperating, the phone won’t stop ringing, and you still have three appointments left. Before you know it, everything feels frustrating, even the little things that normally wouldn’t bother you. I found that when I allowed those frustrations to take over, they often followed me throughout the rest of my day. One set back could turn into an entire difficult afternoon.
But what happens when we intentionally look for something to be grateful for in the middle of the chaos?
Maybe it’s the difficult dog that has made tremendous progress over the last six months. Maybe it’s the client who trusts you enough to bring their beloved pet back year after year. Maybe it’s the fact that you have a full schedule, even when that schedule feels overwhelming.
Sometimes, it’s simply being grateful that you have the skills and opportunity to do something you once dreamed of doing.
Gratitude doesn’t mean pretending the hard parts of our jobs don’t exist. Gratitude didn’t take away payments on repairs, or make the difficult dog magically sit still. It also didn’t groom the dogs for me, or take away the responsibilities. But, what it did do was change the focus of my day, lighten the mental load, and free up space in my thinking and processing. And I believe that alone can change how we approach our work.
When we’re less consumed by everything going wrong, we have more patience for the dog on our table. We have more room to extend kindness to a client who may be having a difficult day of their own. We may even find ourselves enjoying the work that originally drew us into this industry.
Practicing Gratitude in the Daily Hustle
So, how do we make gratitude a daily practice instead of something we think about once a year?
For me, it started with intentionally redirecting my thoughts. Instead of focusing on everything that hadn’t gone according to plan, I would look for something that had.
It doesn’t need to be complicated.
- Before your day begins: Make it a habit to journal 10 things your thankful for. If you can’t make time for that, at least think of one thing you’re grateful for about your career, your clients, or the opportunities in front of you.
- When frustration sets in: Look for one positive thing about the situation, even if it’s simply an opportunity to practice patience.
- At the end of the day: Instead of replaying everything that went wrong, think about something that went right. Write it down!
These small habits won’t eliminate difficult days. They won’t fix broken equipment, prevent cancellations, or make every dog easy to groom. But they can help us keep those frustrations from stealing the joy out of an entire day.
As we head into the holiday grooming season, schedules will fill, demands will increase, and our patience may be tested. It’s a season when we can easily become so focused on getting through the day that we forget to appreciate what we’re doing.
This November, I encourage you to make gratitude part of your daily routine, not just your Thanksgiving celebration.
After all, many of us entered this industry because we loved animals and wanted to build a career around that passion. What a privilege it is to have that opportunity, even on the difficult days.
And maybe, just maybe, practicing gratitude will help us find a little more joy in the hustle.