Attempting Ambition

In my quest to obtaining my BSN (Bachelors of Science and Nursing), I have, and will continue, to spend a lot of my time researching, experimenting and observing different things in a clinical setting. In one of my many random thoughts through out my day of attempting to gather my materials to start this next week, and contemplating how after 4 days of nothing I go back to school and actually give a rats ass about anything being taught to me, I began to have a random set of thoughts. These thoughts led to the conclusion that if everyone used the principal of the scientific method in life, a great deal of our personal problems could vanish. Consider it self-experimenting. This self-experimenting stuff boils down to a few simple steps: Think of a way in which you might live a better, happier life Do that thing — at least for a short time Reflect on what you learned and change your behavior accordingly It’s not rocket science.  In fact, it would be a stretch to call it sci...

Once you’ve discovered your passion (so we are told) your life will become drenched in meaning and purpose. When you know what your life is about, you can face each morning with energy and vigor. You’ll no longer procrastinate. All your bad habits will fall away. Not even rainy days or Mondays will get you down. So we are told. For a long time, I believed my passion would strike me in a moment of inspiration, like a bolt of lightning. My passion would descend from the heavens in a blaze of glory, and I would suddenly know the purpose of my life. A booming Hollywood trailer voiceover would tell me exactly what I should be doing and when. From that moment, my life would have meaning and my problems would disappear. I know I am going to be a nurse, this is certain (given I don't screw up too bad in school), but life is much more than a job. I wanted a purposeful, passionate epiphany - STAT. I also believed I should be able to call down the lightning bolt of pass...

This piece is dedicated to all of my former teachers, my friends who are teachers and those aspiring to be teachers.  I debated for more than a week whether I could actually write a piece on this particular situation that I witnessed. I wasn’t confident that I could capture the shear amount of beauty and love present in this story.   I am still not completely sure I can convey my extremely full heart as I write, but I intend to share this story, because it is something that moved me tremendously.  I was working at the hospital. My patient for the day was a 19 year old female. She overdosed on pain medicine. She was small in size and meek in demeanor. Her name was Lisa. She was quiet, and she was deaf. I wave to her, completely unsure how to communicate with someone who doesn’t hear or speak. I rack my brain for ideas and finally grab a piece of paper…    “Good morning, my name is Liz. I will be sitting with you today.” She smiles and shakes h...

Did you do anything significant today? Today, I went to school, had a job interview and then came home to finish the never ending pile of laundry. Nothing earth shattering, nothing world changing. I didn’t volunteer for anything, I didn’t go out of my way to help someone less fortunate than me, and I didn’t save a life. I would venture to say most of you can relate. We all go through the motions of our daily lives, which are seemingly mundane. We all wish we could do SOMETHING more, SOMETHING meaningful, SOMETHING significant. Did you smile today? If you answered yes, then you did do something significant. Why shouldn’t you or I feeling happy about something, indicate significance? Sure, you didn’t sign up for the twenty dollar monthly donation so that a child in Africa can eat or go to school, but for a brief moment, you were happy with something in your life. A smile costs nothing but can give so much.   It enriches those who receive without making poorer those who gi...

When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. -unknown strength I took the elevator up to the unit I would be working in on this particular day. I sauntered over to the nurses’ station in my black scrubs with much less than a smile on my face due to my early rising of 5am and my inadequate coffee consumption. The nurse states that I will be in a particular room for the day. She also says “good luck, that lady is absolutely crazy”.  Now for those of you who don’t know what I do for a living, I am a Patient Safety Assistant (PSA). I sit (literally) with psychotic/suicidal patients who are at risk for hurting themselves. So yes, Ms-know-it-all-nurse, I’m sure she is probably not the most mentally stable. I walk into the room and the frail seventy-something-year -old woman is i...

So here is a funny story you all may enjoy. Ben and I have been shopping around for wedding bands. After seeing what all the jewelers had to offer, we finally selected and purchased his band last night. I absolutely love my marquis diamond engagement ring with round accent stones.  Ben had this custom designed using family diamonds, but this custom ring was turning into a nightmare. We had been to almost every jeweler in St. Charles/St. Louis with no luck in finding a band that looked right with my custom made engagement ring. I liked the look of double diamond bands on either side of the ring, but that was outrageous in price. Finally, we found the perfect setting about two weeks ago, but decided not to purchase just yet. As I said we purchased Ben’s band last night, so then since he got his ring I wanted to at least go look at the setting (a diamond guard that my engagement ring will sit inside) that I had decided on. The store happened to be  holding a sale yesterday th...

Be strong and endure for one day this pain will be useful. We all know those people to whom everything has been handed. The people who have everything and have worked for nothing. Before you get excited, this post is not being used to bash those people. It is not their fault.  I will also say, if you are one of those people, this post is also going to be beneficial to you. We are all dealt cards in life. Some get the good ones, and some get the shitty ones, but it is all in how you play the game. We tend to envy those who have it all, but what if I said they should envy those who have struggled. To those of you that have cried, screamed and fought in life, I praise you. For those who have thought that they couldn’t accomplish something and then did, I admire you. For those of you that kept going when no one thought you could, I commend you.  In my life, I have struggled, a lot. I can tell you that I wouldn’t change anything that has happened to me. If there is anything...