In an earlier post, I talked about the dimensions of resilience: determination, endurance, adaptability, and recuperability (Taormina, 2015). Each of these are important aspects of understanding how you can live with and manage the stress this job causes.
I want to talk about endurance today. Endurance means getting through hard times, unpleasant situations, or difficult problems without giving up. You do this all the time.
What about that bad trauma? It may seem hopeless and it certainly is not pleasant, but you don’t quit in the middle and say “it’s not worth it”. Right? No, you endure. You get the job done and do everything you can do to get that patient to the definitive care he needs.
Then there’s the cardiac arrest. Maybe it is a child or a parent. It reminds you of something personal and you really don’t want to have to think about it. So, you push those thoughts aside and work that code to the best of your ability. You give that patient every opportunity possible. Maybe it works and maybe it doesn’t, but you did your best. That is what matters. That is endurance.
What gets to you is giving in to the negative thoughts that almost always arise. You wonder if there was something else you could have done. You tell yourself you are a black cloud, especially if you are having “one of those days.” Or, maybe, you blame someone else. They didn’t do what they were supposed to do. Usually, though, when you really look at it, you know everything went as well as it could under the circumstances.
You are not what you do. Does that make sense? You are not what happens around you. You are not the cause of all the bad calls you got today or any other day.
What you are is a person who, unfortunately, had a bad run. Nothing you could do about that. You just happened to be the available and closest truck to the call. If you could predict where the next call would be, you could go the other way. But it doesn’t work that way. (Oh, for the crystal ball!)
How can you turn those negative thoughts around? How can you give yourself the benefit of the doubt? It is okay to review the call. That’s how we learn. Just don’t dwell on it. If you did make a mistake, own it and learn from it.
Odds are you did just fine. Odds are you do just fine every day. You endure because you can. You
DO have what it takes.
Give yourself some grace and remember who you are: a person who has dedicated your life to helping other people. That is a very noble and worthy person to be.
What have you needed to endure lately? Leave a comment below! I would love to hear from you.
Taormina, R. J. (2015). Adult Personal Resilience: A new theory, new measure, and practical implications. Psychological Thought, 8(1), 35-46. doi:10.5964/psyct.v8i1.126
December 1, 2016 © 2016 Resilient Medic