I have noticed a mysterious ebb and flow in nursing. There seem to be periods where the days unfold fairly easily. Patients remain stable, tasks are not overwhelming, interruptions are minimal, and time moves at a pace where you’re ultimately able to get everything done. There’s always stress, mind you, but it’s manageable. You can have several pleasant days like this in a row where you leave feeling tired, but smiling.
Then suddenly there is a change – nothing you can definitely point to – but something has shifted and it feels like everything has tilted off its axis.
These days don’t pleasantly unfold. These are the days where no matter what you do – no matter how hard your work – stress upon stress piles on top of you. And. It. Just. Keeps. Building. Until shift change.
These days you walk to your car exhausted, feeling like every part of your being has been assaulted – or at least relentlessly pecked by chickens for 12 hours straight.
I love nursing, but it can be an extremely difficult profession. Not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually, as well. I absolutely love the patients – being there to help people when they need it most is an amazing feeling – but everything that surrounds their care can be incredibly draining. There are times where you feel like you literally have to heal between workdays.
Today is one of those healing days before I go back tomorrow.
What will tomorrow be like? Will everything have shifted back to a more pleasant axis? Only God knows. And I trust him that whatever happens, it will be for my good and His glory. So, I won’t worry about that – he’ll get me through tomorrow when it happens. Just like he got me through yesterday. And just like he got me through 2015. It was a year with many wonderful blessings, but also riddled with several great trials, as well. And he was there with me through them all.
So, as we start a brand new day – and a brand new year – we’re being given so many opportunities. No matter what your life is like, no matter what you’re dealing with today, we can make choices in how we cope with it. We can’t just ignore our yesterdays – we would miss the lessons learned through that healing process, if we let that happen. But we do have to press on, right? Let go. Move forward.
So, for right now – very early this morning – I’m outside. I’m listening to the trickling of my fountain. And I’m healing. And I’m focusing on this moment. Not yesterday. Not even tomorrow. Just right now. This very moment. It’s a gift from God. And it’s filled with healing beauty. And I’m just so very thankful.
Happy New Year and thanks for growing with me. ❤
“ … but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14)
Growing Nurse Debi 