Tonight I was corresponding with a nurse at a children's hospital in Texas. Paraphrasing here, but she said, "I'd love to see your message of hope and inspiration and determination brought to groups of our patients. If you haven't already, I hope you'll think of starting a support group at children's hospitals."
Well, thinking of it now! Not exactly how this could be done on a large scale, but here's my philosophy: you never know what kind of impact you can make on someone in the tiniest communication.
There have been people who've inspired me to write articles, books and to keep on doing what I do...and these aren't professional speakers or experts in motivation. It may just be getting really awesome service at the dry cleaners and seeing someone take a great amount of pride in his/her job.
Last year, I was on a flight with a guy who rattled off something I've tried to adopt into my thinking:
"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery and I'm living in the now"
Yet, does this fellow even know he's made this impact on me? Maybe, if he reads this...but realistically not. This interaction? I think it was somewhere between Cleveland and Orlando...
And yet? His statement is now being relayed to you. I can share with groups of young patients and create a giant support group...but really, I could just pop into a patient's room for a few minutes and...who knows? Maybe that patient will take something away from a brief interaction.
Whether it's in a group setting, or just a passing comment from a stranger, we all want support. We all want to know our problems don't seem insurmountable. We all want to know what the best thing we can do to face our adversity. Never, ever underestimate the power that you, the health care professional, has...and how your interaction may be just the thing that supports your patient for the future.
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