Live It! Learn It! Teach It!

I had an epiphany the other day during a couple of nurse coaching sessions. The “why me” question? Why did this happen to me? In my past experiences, I would have said, “Well, life isn’t fair.” Now, I take it as a learning experience, embrace the experience, find why I was thrown the experience, and help others who have gone through the same experience. My new favorite word, experience. As you can read in the last few sentences! The reason I use this word so much is because you are living in that moment when it happens, and you have the choice to keep holding on to that moment and have it affect you the rest of your life or, you can teach/resonate with others to help you along your way to help heal yourself. Long sentence there, but needed.

As a healthcare professional, I am astounded at how unhealthy we are as a cohort. Here we are guiding our patient population, teaching the right way to do life, and we are not succeeding in our own. How can we possibly do this? We are great actors/actresses. We really do a great job of acting on social media. Everything just looks so pretty and perfect. Get off of social media if you are at a point in your life where you have self doubt! What do you have to lose? You are losing time in making yourself feel better! I had a statistic thrown at me the other day and that was…we check our smartphones 47 times a day!! How many minutes is that? Well, let me tell you, it adds up! 47 x 2 minutes x 3 minutes x 4 minutes. You get my drift! I am guilty as well! Go connect with people the real way! Isolation is the deadly killer for humanity. Yes, this last year has been rocky, however, I would love to see the statistical data on our depression, anxiety, and suicidal rate. Where is it?

When a thumbs up or a heart on a post has determined our mood for the day, please read that again, determines us, we are in need of an awakening. Wake up! I posted the other day regarding a Nurses’ oath on how I would never discriminate on someone’s life choice. Guess what I got right away? A negative comment about patient’s life choices. I instantly deleted it. It was from a healthcare professional. Why did you become a healthcare professional? We are supposed to help the vulnerable, support the weak, encourage hope, and be the best support system we can for others. That is why I became a health professional. Why did you?

As you all know, I suffered from anxiety and depression and I am so grateful I went through it. I would have liked for a shorter session of it, but I have to take that long experience and put it to good use. I have found the reason for having it for so long, and here it is. Writing to you to tell you that it is okay to have it. We just need to talk about it. Not on social media, but in person. We need to get back to connecting with people. We learn so much in a conversation if we are fully present. Be present with yourself. Set a goal of taking time for yourself! Off of the phone of course! Break a leg! I have never really understood this saying. Breaking a leg on stage is good luck? How about….break a habit? Act different? Open your mind to the possibilities of not acting and being real. Take care of yourself in order to take care of others. Reach out to people that make you feel great inside. Surround yourself with others who want you to be better! Only you have the choice to do this.

Choose wisely.