i think one of the most beneficial things i have learned from both nursing and rescue is the importance of keeping ones eye on the bouncing ball. it is so easy to get sucked into muddy waters and get lost in the bog.
here is the thing..in life, in nursing, in rescue....there are all kinds of pitfalls, roadblocks, tiny yet irritating minutia, that can knock me off my path or turn me around and around and around until i am so dizzy that i can no long find my way.
i remember a long time ago while in an argument with my then teenage daughter asking if she would like to write the script on who i was supposed to be and what i was supposed to do or say. this has crystalized for me over the years in realizing it also wasn't my job to be script writing for other folks either. sometimes i just have to work with what is there.
my most favorite mantra now is..its not personal, its not about me. it has to be about keeping my eye on the ball to get to where i want to be going.
and who is responsible for my choices, my decisions, my goals, the direction i have chosen?
of course the answer is me.
and what that gives me is freedom..freedom from resentment, freedom from unfair or unrealistic expectations, freedom from wasting time and energy in seeking to lay fault or blame.
this is not to say i have learned to accept everything around me..it means i have learned to not let potholes stop me. at worst, it now means a pause to regroup, to take a breath and think thru possible solutions.
if there are 3 things i want to pass on to others they are:
1) don't be afraid to peel the damn onion. every single layer yields another layer underneath yet it is all still an onion.
2) for every action there are reactions..ie toss a pebble into the pond and there will be ripples fanning out in the water.
3) keep it simple..the least intervention possible. i can always up the ante and add bigger, more...but it is really hard to go back down to less..and less is truly sometimes more.
if i keep these things in mind, i usually, eventually will safely get to where i am going
the boy scouts motto is..."be prepared." my motto is..have a rational, reasonable and realistic plan....and have at least one other decent back up plan, just in case it all goes to shit.
nothing in nursing or rescue or life is all that easy...everywhere i look, everywhere i turn there are challenges waiting to greet me.
i am learning that it's ok, it's normal, it's expected, it's nothing that can't be handled as long as i keep my eyes wide open and focused on that bouncing ball and don't get too distracted.