Fur The Love of Fostering

Throughout fostering life it isn’t uncommon for one to experience a “funk” as I like to call it. We all have our highs, our lows, and those days where you aren’t ever really sure that you will get out of the hydroplaning experience of just steadily passing each fostering minute of each fostering hour of each fostering day. I call this “Le Funk”. Some might call it burnout where others might call it surviving. Its truly all of those things in one exhausted package. It isn’t until usually a defining moment in fostering when life grabs your shoulders, body jerks you back on path and your lungs fill, alive with what feels like your first actual breathe in a very long time that you realize you were existing in “le funk”. That realization of automatic function to exist as opposed to living in the sweet and sometimes chaotic moments of fostering is the very moment we are able to clear the fog from our head and remember to live in the vivid colors of joy surrounding us.

We fosters and rescuers want to always help and many times we go beyond our personal and even family’s limits constantly to ensure the persistent needs for animals in need of fosters are not rejected. We offer up our time, cars, gas, space, energy, garages, all rooms in the house and even our own financial resources. We have a passion that cannot be dimmed. We do, however, need to remember that there is only so much energy in a day and we need to ensure we are allocating our energy accordingly so as not to fall into “le funk”. If not, we can end up in what I like to call “Le Skunk” where the impact for potential damage is limitless. I have personally seen it impact individuals as far as developing into a stinky attitude, aura and demeanor that can be misplaced towards themselves, their own families, friends, fellow fostermates, potential adopters or even the foster animals. No one feels the guilt harder than someone who wants to do more but simply cannot within the capacity of what is truly best for them. Saying “No” is not what we like to do but sometimes it is essential for our mental health’s sake at a minimum.

SO if you are foster, rescuer or someone simply hydroplaning in the existence of “Le Funk”, consider this as your moment to stop. Say “No” and know that it is ok. You are not alone, you have support and it is always ok to realign your boundaries with what is healthy for you at this time in your life because it is ever changing. And truly, thank you for all that you do. ♥