The Point of Obsession

So it's official, I'm obsessed with cats. I think I always have been, but since starting at the DSPCA and not having owned a pet in a few years, the obsession has become apparent. Today was such a magical day, I spent the afternoon showering the shelter cats with love in between cleaning pods or doing other cleaning tasks. I made it my personal goal to get some of the shyer cats to fall in love with me by the end of the day and I succeeded for the most part. There was one little kitten that was especially immune to my lovins, but the other ones fell under my spell and frankly, me under theirs as well.

I am almost certain when I move back home I will have to avoid doing volunteering with animal shelters because I know I'll be sucked in to adopting hundreds of animals. I literally found myself wanting to give them kisses but I wasn't sure what the policies were on that so I stuck to repeated scratchies and cuddling. People say that cats aren't as loving as dogs but honestly, spend an afternoon with shelter cats and you'll see them in a new light. They are so appreciative of human contact and stare longingly out of their pods attempting to lure you in for the cuddles they desire. Even those who had recently had surgeries and had every reason to be miserable were so sweet and loving. I just love them :D

I did however notice today that I am in a position to burn out which kind of scares me. Ask anyone I know back home and they'll tell you I'm a bit of a busy body. I like to be doing things all the time which usually puts me in the position where something else that's important suffers. Usually it's my relationships that suffer as I put so much into working that I barely make time for friends and while here in Dublin, it seems that I'm guilty of doing the exact same thing. I work 5 nights a week at my job, I work the other two nights at the hostel I live at, and volunteer as well. Essentially, I have absolutely no time to do anything that I should be here doing. 

I'm afraid that by the time I go back to Canada, I will have seen nothing in Ireland except for Dublin. I'll have my trips across Europe of course which are the lights at the end of the tunnel in this case. 4 days off to sight see, be alone, and just do what I want to do, but in between those trips, I'm burning the candle from both ends so to speak. I am aware this is happening and yet I continue to power through it instead of scaling back. Why the fuck do I do this?

I'm honestly hoping that this knowledge of burning myself out will at some point inspire me to slow the frick down but I feel like it will be the actual burnout that does it to me. I'll be heading back to Canada with absolutely no Ireland experience and no pets either lol bummer.

HAPPY VEG