Just Take A Deep Breath

I know you have been waiting

The surgery I was helping with just finished and our check in board was blinking wildly letting us know there were people and patients waiting on us. We have been doing “curb side service” for months now, and we have gotten to be pros at it, but that doesn’t mean we are fast. It still took time to finish what we are currently doing and gather the needed paperwork to go out to the people. In the beginning, when all of this was new to everyone, people seemed to have had more patience. They were more willing to accept that we were new at this too and having to adjust to bringing in our patients as well as get the pertinent information needed to tell the doctors what was wrong. Not to mention getting the correct phone number and memorizing what make, model and color their car was so that we could tell that to the doctors that as well. Over time we noticed that it was harder and harder for people to be willing to sit in their cars and wait. When I talked with my coworkers about it, we realized it had more to do with the fast instant gratification culture we live in rather than people’s true ability to wait.

This “phenomenon” isn’t really one at all. We as a whole have learned that we can have what we want almost instantly, and we find it truly odd when we are told we have to wait even a minute longer than what we were told. For some that makes them grumpy. Others find it to be almost a catastrophe that they went through, and then there are those who go with it and realize that things happen. These are my type of people. There are no absolutes in this world besides God and taxes. Throw in a virus that is making a life a little more difficult and stressful and we find that our fuses run short. When it comes to things being out of our control wouldn’t it be easier to realize this take a step back and breathe?

This last week I struggled with this, I wanted to just breathe but it felt like I didn’t even have a chance to do that. One day in particular had me going. Our schedule at work was a “steady busy” but two of my coworkers were not 100% in their ability to work. We had just finished our last procedure for the morning when I heard the doctor confirm with a client that we could indeed do “that surgery” today. She then looked at me apologetically and instructed me to go get as much of a lunch as I could. I decided to forgo my usual lunch of food and online education and instead went to take care of Benny. Benny is a hospital cat at another facility I work for. He is the type of cat that will be aloof until you sit down and then he practically demands your attention. I needed a breather and I needed to be “forced” to sit down. Benny accepted the challenge happily. As soon as I sat down he jumped up and expected to be pet. It was perfect. I was able to eat my lunch, relax and head back to work. That was my breather.

I got through that day and the next, to make it to a four day break from work. My plans were simple for the four days, do a deep clean of the house, re-position frames on my wall and add new photos, write the Christmas letter, make salsa, start doing the Christmas shopping, and finally if I have time get some computer work done. I managed to get 3-4 things done off my list, instead I went on walks with my hubby and Jorj, I turned on my electric blanket and curled up with a good book. I took the kids shopping for items they saved up to get, I pet my cat. I took a four day breather, and it was nice.

Mr. Rogers once said

Love isn’t a state of perfect caring. It is an active noun like struggle. To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now

This goes for ourselves. We need to love who we are here and now. God did not make a mistake when he made each one of us. This quote reminds me that I am called to love my neighbor even when it’s hard, and we are going through struggles all the time. When we realize that we are all imperfect people we can see that we are all trying to get by. The joy that comes from within happens not because I am happy all the time, it’s because I know it’s not my job to fix people or what’s going on around me. It’s my job to trust God to do as he said he would do and to love others as He loves me, even when it’s hard. When I feel overwhelmed with life, I actively and purposely take a breather and remember that I am not alone. In these moments I turn over to God what I have been trying to take care of myself.

As I write this I am going into a 6 day work week. it’s something I have been doing for a while. It is stressful, but it is also rewarding because I know patients are being helped, clients will be smiled at, and fun will be had with my co-workers. I know that as I am at work, my kids are loved and cared for at home with my hubby, I will come home to a house filled with love, and whether things are good or bad I have a God I can trust and rely on. The joy that comes from these facts is like the breath that come from my lungs. Find your joy in the simple. Step back and take a breather, know that you are not in control, trust in the God who is. Until next time:

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God
Hebrews 12:1-2