How our past shapes our future!
For as long as I can remember, I shut out my past, knowing I had moved on, Living a different life. However, recently I have been finding myself reflecting on my how career began. Understanding how our past shapes our future!
Did you know?
Did you know that I was a registered nurse for 20 years. I remember vividly the day when my parents dropped me off at the doors of this army hospital just outside of Edinburgh. With only a suitcase in my hand and not much else. To point out, I had no idea what this journey was about or even what the purpose was. Ultimately, I had been guided here and just trusted that I was where I was meant to be.
Every single moment shapes our future.
Be intentional.
Live on purpose
Brian Tracy
The Journey!
The next three years was such an exciting time. In other words, I experienced situations beyond my wildest imagination. And as a result, I experienced a huge learning curve, learning about life, people and disease from all the health professionals around. Supporting each other as many experiences we encountered could not be imagined by people not in this health environment.
One night my job as a second-year student was too “special” a patient, let’s call him Jim. He was in intensive care on life support. Having sustained a blood clot in his brain, this resulted in his breathing being affected. This resulted in him needing a machine to keep him alive while his body tried to heal.
This particular night, despite the machine supporting his breathing his heart just failed. We call this a cardiac arrest, and this requires immediate manual cardiac resuscitation. I quickly hit the emergency bell assist to get assistance. Almost immediately a junior resident Doctor arrived, looked at Jim and then at me with such fear in his eyes. He shouted, what do I do? Now this was a pretty dynamic situation that was unfolding, and I didn’t have time to talk him through. I responded ” follow my prompts” as I showed him what was required in this resuscitation process.
The learnings!
Finally, Jim was stabilised. Later the junior Doctor and myself had a chance to debrief. He shared with me how fearful he had been as he faced the situation with Jim. Despite being a qualified Doctor he had never faced or been responsible for such an acute situation before. Initially fear had taken over and rendered him unable to think clearly. He almost became paralysed by fear
Looking back on these times that formed the foundation of who I have become, I understand now how debilitating fear can be to all of us. It is easy to become fearful if we don’t know what to do or say. It can undermine our confidence and increase our self-doubt.
Many of us are affected by this emotion fear! Whether it be in our personal or professional life! Most of us have experienced fear of failure at some point. Fear is not selective. It can strike high performing women just as easily as it can strike Doctors.
Being a young student nurse, I was taught to challenge fear and create a useful strategy instead. There was no place for debilitating consequences of fear in emergency situations! Leaving the clinical world of nursing many years ago, I still call on the life skills that I learned in my first career! In a word, forever grateful. Without this foundation I would not be the person I am today.
I have been able to apply many of those skills to my life and career over the years. To point out, as a very young student I found myself gravitating towards understanding more about human behaviour. Fascinated by how people thought and the cruelness of peoples behaviours! Taking the time to listen to what people are trying to say.
Open mind – no judgement!
When we look past people’s physical appearance and not judging them by their social or educational standing, that is when we start our own growth journey and start to tackle the fear that lies within us. What we see in others is often a reflection of what is in us. Something that we need to address or explore. Remember our job is not to be perfect, it’s about keeping progressing and moving forward in a positive way.
Having a robust foundation helps us recognise when we become fearful and instantly, we can then rewrite our script and turn it into something more positive. Fear depletes our energy and if left unmanaged can cause us to spiral out of control. Fear holds us back and makes it more challenging for us to move forward and recognise what we want in our life. Sometimes you just have to lean into it, feel it and let it go. Awareness and taking action is the key to dispelling the fear that lies within.
Would love to hear how your past has shaped your future self?