Humbleization - Not Letting Other's Vinegary States Affect Me

As my loyal readers know, I work in a hospital, on a brain injury rehabilitation unit, helping people who are overcoming traumatic brain injuries.

This summer, I've been working less than I would like because there is an over abundance of staff on our unit, and open beds that need to be filled still. Which means, our skills have been widely used across the entire hospital this summer (getting pulled to other units, sometimes for the first time, sometimes to units we used to work on) .

Some people have not been happy with said arrangements, I have been trying to maintain a positive attitiude, I keep telling myself that I am so blessed to have a job, a job that pays so well, and a job that teaches me new things everyday.  Sadly, I have been letting others' bad attitudes and grumpy dispositions rub off on me, and I haven't been enjoying going to work much as of late.

This past stretch of my shifts have been pretty well the same, out of 4 shifts, I was pulled twice. I finally got to work on my unit on Sunday evening, and I am going to be honest, I went with a bad attitude. I wasn't looing forward to being back on my unit, having people grabbing at me, constantly asking me to do things, and just complaining about everything...

I was helping one lady into her room to start getting ready for bed, and she was patting on her bed with her hand looking puzzled. I asked her what she was up to, and she said, "Oh, I want to turn the tv on". She had stated a minute before that she was going to brush her teeth. I asked her if I could turn the tv on while she went and did that. She got very upset with me, yelling that I was being bossy and that I needed to stop it.

Now I feel that I wasn't being bossy towards her, maybe I was, I am not sure now, I do know that I was struck just how much of a goodwill deficit I had been putting across. I walked away from her and collected my thoughts. My first reaction was a flash of anger... how dare she!? then when I sat down, I really thought about what she was saying, how I would feel if my nurse was dour towards me.

I gave her a few minutes to finish what she was doing and went to talk to her. She was still very upset with me, and I let her tell me all of her frustrations, and then I apologized to her. We talked for a little while and I told her I wasn't meaning to be bossy, and I told her I would try harder to be more responsive to her. She seemed satisfied with out talk and let me help her into bed.

I'm not sure if she has thought more about it since then, but I have.  I can't stop really. I need to remember to stay humble, to remember that I am blessed to be there at all, and that I am there for them.

I also need to remember that others are bound to come to work with the wrong disposition, others are having bad days too, and that other people have been wounded and show it outwardly. But, I, I need to be the example, I need to continue to be loving towards others and to let people be, well people.

Its amazing how God can speak you me through other people.