What Are You Giving Up?

I read an article that recently has gone viral called “Fifteen Things You Should Give Up To Be Happy.”  The list made such an impact on me that I want now to share it with you. I’m not going to go through all fifteen but there are a couple of them that I feel are related to nursing.

First is to give up the need to always be right. The need to be right is one of the most powerful drugs in the world. But, in reality, sometimes it really does not matter who is right. I often say, “Would you rather be right or would you rather be in a relationship?” If being right alienates the other person in your life, is it really worth it?

Next, give up on blame and complaining. It seems that many nurses are unhappy with their work environment and have no qualms about sharing the fact that they’re upset. They blame doctors, administration, patients, lack of staffing…you name it.

However, in order for us nurses to be involved and to improve their profession, we need to stop complaining. We need to avoid giving our energy to complaining and think about applying it to create solutions.

Another one is to give up your limiting beliefs. If I had a dime for every person who said “Why didn’t I go to medical school,” I would be a millionaire. Well, maybe not really. But a lot of times nurses do have limiting beliefs about what they can and what they should do in their lives and their careers.

The only thing limiting us is our own thoughts.

The last one I picked from the list is to give up your resistance to change. The only thing that we know for sure is that things will and do change. Yet, we have so much resistance to changes. Our very beings are changing as we speak. Many cells are dying and new ones are replacing them. What we plan to do in the morning may not be what we actually do by the end of the day. Change is constant and we should embrace it.

As creatures of habit, we like our comfort zone and don’t want things to change. The only way that we can improve our profession is if we change it. So, embrace change. Change is good. And know that we can change our profession for the better if we empower ourselves, get rid of the limiting beliefs, stop complaining and blaming while thinking of solutions to make it happen.