The 2 hands of nurses

As nurses we use our hands to;

• comfort,
• care for,
• support, and
• generally to give to others

Take some time in November to share the giving your hands provide... with yourself :)

Putting yourself first...

"One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown
is the belief that one's work is terribly important"
~Bertrand Russell

Put yourself first!
What do you need to do more of today to ensure you are looking after yourself?
Now create the space in your day to do it.

What do you need to do less of?
Now replace this activity with one from your list above.

Sleep

Sleep
Glorious, restful, refreshing sleep
I certainly haven't had enough recently
Strange how I push the limits every so often & conduct my own social survey to see exactly how little sleep I can survive on
When will I learn!!!

Perfection...to be or not to be?

Perfection is in my opinion both unrealistic and unobtainable.
Shame then that so many people keep trying.
The impact of which is so often a tattered sense of self & frayed relationships
From a self care perspective a much better approach is that espoused by Dr David Burns:

"Aim for success, not perfection.
Never give up your right to be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to learn new things and move forward with your life"

The mat...

In terms of self care my yoga practice sees to be having the most positive impact at the moment, no matter what is happening in my life 'taking it to the mat' seems to work for me
Makes me laugh really given that is also one of the commands for my dog 'on the mat'
Works just as well for her as for me :)
What works for you?

July's magic moment...

Stories

How is your experience of your work colleagues?
Are they venters or moaners?
Love to hear your stories
Drop us a line...

PLOM's can leave a bad taste in your mouth

A little more on the PLOM (poor little 'ol me) syndrome mentioned in the last post
PLOM's are great at playing the victim - and we can all do that from time to time - the trick is not to make it a habit!!
To do so means we have all care & no responsibility for anything that happens in our life
Its becomes all about what others have done to us
No responsibility is accepted for anything
Much easier from such a perspective to blame others than to reflect on our own behavior & actions
Such behavior is really challenging for others to work with,
Of course its all about an attempt to control others & our environment
Perhaps a better approach would be a little introspection & to focus on controlling or managing our own responses - which is after all the only thing we can genuinely expect to control
Don't be a PLOM - your colleagues will respect you for it & you will be a joy to be around

Vent or moan?

Let me share my thoughts on a number of indicators that a vent has become a moan :

• the person actually appears to flourish by being part of the problem (I say appears to be because underneath it all this is one very unhappy, unfilled person)
  
• it is about being contemptuous and undermining of colleagues and bosses
• no attempt is being made at solution finding
• it is repetitive; before you left for days off the conversation filled the tea room & still fills the tea room on your return from days off
• the poor little ol me (PLOM) syndrome is in evidence - you know its always about someone else & what they have supposedly done to this person - there is no evidence of reflection of the role the individual who is doing the moaning has in the situation
  

Venting

Venting is a healthy activity
Say what you feel, get it off your chest, talk it over with a trusted friend
and then move on with your life gaining a little wisdom from the experience
What is it however that separates a healthy vent from a destructive moan?
At what point in time does a vent become toxic?

Music

Music has amazing ability to influence our moods
When was the last time you used music to relax and sooth?

Awareness

In retrospect I should have known the minute I squirted toothpaste on my black shirt it would be one of those days. However coming from an approach of your day is what you make it I continued on unsuspecting despite a twenty minute search for the car keys which were where I left them (if only I could have remembered where that was twenty minutes earlier). A nanosecond after closing the front door on my way into work I had tripped down the front steps (well OK step as there is only one) and without a drop of alcohol past my taste buds. The ‘trip’ proved quite spectacular not the least that it was in full view of several neighbors and on a day when I had given up my preference for wearing trousers and gone all girlie with a skirt. A skirt that made me look the epitome of a professional woman when worn vertically, when worn horizontally well that was a different matter. All this was before 7am. I’ll let your imagination wander through what the rest of my day looked like as I try and explain where I am heading with all this. Perhaps if I backtrack a little and share some pearls of wisdom Carol a friend and mentor of mine gave me many years ago. Her view was that there are no accidents. Carol’s view was that it was about loss of awareness. The busier we become the less aware we are. We hurry through life, ‘wired’ for speed, like a headless chook packing as much as possible into our day; weighed down by the multiple responsibilities of life, family and work. We become less aware of our feelings and less aware of what is going on around us. As a consequence we often don’t pick up on our stress levels as we push onward. This can result in what we commonly refer to as ‘accidents’. Using Carol’s perspective however the cause is more about loss of awareness and certainly for me when I start having days like I describe above it is past time for me to slow down.

According to Henry Miller ‘the aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware’.

Where is your awareness?

Focused on the million things you think you have to accomplish by noon?

If this is so for you….focus your attention inward, take a deep slow breath and slow what you are doing.

Pay attention to your thoughts and feelings.

Center yourself and proceed with a slow steady speed with increased awareness of yourself and the world around you.

You will feel and be better for it…

Take your breaks !!

Frequent short breaks keep you sane and
help you manage your stress levels
Do you take your breaks?