I don’t know about you, but for me, 2019 was a year I couldn’t wait to see end. It was indeed one of the worst of my life. Getting past some of the dates of those worst days has been difficult too so far. Lots of PTSD. And to boot, 2020 hasn’t been exactly easy so far.
Today was an emotional roller coaster with the Celebration of Life for Kobe Bryant. Living in southern CA and being a sports fan, Kobe found a soft spot in my heart. I’ve seen him on the court and in the community. One of the things that hit me today was a quote from a speech he gave when they retired his #24 and #8 jerseys. Mamba Mentality….
“Those times when you get up early and you work hard, those times when you stay up late and you work hard, those times when you don’t feel like working, you’re too tired, you don’t want to push yourself, but you do it anyway. That is actually the dream. That’s the dream. It’s not the destination, it’s the journey. And if you guys can understand that, then what you’ll see happen is you won’t accomplish your dreams, your dreams won’t come true; something greater will.”
It’s the journey. That hit me hard. As nurses, we strive to make a difference for our patients and somedays we do that better than others. It’s easy to beat ourselves up when we don’t make that difference, but maybe, just maybe it was something/someone else in their journey that day that was the lesson, the pleasure, the difference.
We won’t stop striving to be the best we can be, but we will stop and smell the roses and pat ourselves on the back for a job well done. We won’t settle or accept less than the best. We will enjoy the journey, and learn to be better every day. And when we’re ready, we will switch gears and make a difference in another way. We will never stop learning and trying and making a difference! And something greater will happen!
