Staying Sane

I was at work the other day trying to use mindfulness to make my day go a little more smoothly. I was having some trouble with it. When I am sitting contently and calm and don’t feel like there are a million other things I should be doing, I can practice mindfulness quite easily. But, when I am at work running around trying to get everything done that needs to be done, medications passed, assessments, and charting, all while having thoughts of what I need to do for school on my mind, I have some serious difficulty with mindfulness. But, I kept trying. I think that by the end of my shift I was able to let go of some of the things that didn’t matter. You know, those things that just make your day unnecessarily more difficult. For instance, I was able to ignore the fact that the secretary grunted every time I asked him a question. Or the fact that every time I would gather an item that my patient requested, he would ask for another. These are the little things that would normally annoy me, but there is no reason that they should. There is no reason I should allow my coworker’s bad mood bring down mine. And the fact that my patient has more requests than normal shouldn’t bother me. Making my patients comfortable is the part of the job I love. The only reason I get frustrated is because I have so many other things to do. Once I was able to let go of these things, the day went more smoothly. I still have a lot to work on with mindfulness, but I think that practice makes perfect. Once I master it, I think that going to work will be a lot more joyful because I will be able to focus on the parts of it that I love.