Is life just happening to you?

This comes up for me especially in this time of covid surge.  Days can feel long, stressful, and non-productive at times, even as we take care of patients and their families.  It seems that one, “code one”, after another is called, as the covid positive patients keep rolling in, each sicker than the last.  That out of control, victim mode, is easy to fall into, yet not something I care to stay in.  Sometimes we tell ourselves that we have no say or control about what is happening.  I like to remind myself and others that while we can’t control circumstances like, sick patients from covid……we can completely control our thoughts and feelings about them.  It is my choice to come to work, even though it doesn’t always feel that way.  Our brain tells us we don’t have a choice, but this is an error.  You always have a choice.  You could literally just not go back, not show up.  You might say you can’t do that because you would lose your job, and I would agree.  However, you choose to do your job because you want the job, the paycheck, and you really do care!   So, you choose to go to work!  Telling yourself you have no choice leads to a sense of helplessness and no control, which, for most of us, feels horrible.  The most interesting part of that is the person that feels the most horrible about that situation, is you.  You do have a choice in how you are in any situation; don’t give all your control away to someone else.  They may not have your back!  The next time you feel that you don’t have a choice in something you are doing……take a moment and ask if that is true.  No one can really make us do anything.  Even though we may complain, it is our choice 100% of the time.  May God bless all of us as we continue to take care of these patients to provide the best, most compassionate and skilled care possible.