Journal of Lessons Learned

“There isn’t enough time to learn everything in life by trial and error. We must learn from the life lessons of one another.”

                God formed every creature on this planet with a special area of expertise. Each has a particular role to play based on the way they were shaped by God. We are a combination of many different factors; our spiritual gifts, abilities, our heart, personality and experience.

•  Spiritual gifts - Each of us has been blessed with spiritual gifts. We need to discover that gift (if we haven’t discovered it yet) and develop because an unopened gift is worthless.

• Listening to our Heart – Your heart reveals the real you, your heart determines why you say the things you do, why you feel the way you do and why you act the way you do. You should listen to your heart because you will never again be able to keep it quiet. Even if you pretend not to have heard what it tells you, it will always be there inside you, repeating to you what you’re thinking about life and about the world. A good heart is at the root of nursing. It wasn’t simply for the money (well, at first t’was everyone’s reason why they took up nursing) but we have learned to love and embrace our profession. Long hours of duty, sacrifice and the pain and suffering of others come with the job. WE, Nurses have that strong desire to help people, to comfort, to heal the sick and provide essential aid. In return, we just want to see you smile and a simple “thanks” is more than enough.

• Applying your abilities – We have dozens of hidden abilities that we don’t know we’ve got because we’ve never tried them out. You will never know what you’re good at until you try. We are not that old to stop experimenting, to try new things and explore life. Deep water fear? Try scuba diving! Afraid of heights? Try the highest zip line! Oh! It’s not suicide, its facing your fears and having fun.

• Personalities – Your uniqueness is a scientific act of life. There never has been and never will be anybody exactly like you. We are what we are for a reason. Sometimes there are conflicts, misunderstanding and problems that arise because we have different personalities. Just imagine if we are all alike, I guess Earth would be so boring.

•  Life Experiences – People are always more encouraged when we share how Gods grace helped us in weakness. Everybody has times when they feel like Gods just not there. But He is always there, always bringing you closer to Him.

    You will be most effective when you use your spiritual gifts and abilities in the area of your heart’s desire and in a way that best expresses your personality and experience. Let us all be a blessing to all the people we meet. We never know how our stories can affect their lives. We are wonderfully complex. We are uniquely different from each other. And we all have things that were good at and not-so-good at but together we fill each other’s gaps. We have different stories to tell, different experiences day by day, chasing different dreams and crossing different paths. I want to hear your stories too! What makes you mad and makes you sad, what makes you smile or makes you cry. What are lessons you have learned in life? I want to learn from it too. I want to be a part of your story, as you have been a part of mine. I keep a track of my happiest moments, the bad days, the sweet nothing messages, the memorabilia’s of the past, and life’s lessons. I write everything I feel and think in my journal and in my blog, as a reminder of how God have shaped my life and blessed me and hoping that somewhere, somehow I can inspire others with my own experience. Sharing your experiences can help others. As Aldous Huxley said, “Experience is not what happens to you. It is what you do with what happens to you. “

EXPERIENCE IS YOUR BEST TEACHER

Life is a series of problems! Every time you solve one, another is waiting to take it’s place. Not all of them are big but all are significant in God’s growth process for us. When my mother died 3 years ago, the problems and responsibilities she’d left behind has caused the greatest growth in me. I have to think less of myself and to think more of my family. My mother’s death was the darkest hour of my life. I felt a part of me has died and cannot be revived. I even thought of committing suicide (don’t panic, It was just a thought), that day I felt, the suicidals might have felt when they chose to end their lives… ..…LONELINESS, BETRAYAL, ANGER, HOPELESSNESS, UNLOVED….I believed in God and I fear Him, so there’s no way I’m going to end my life no matter how big or difficult the problem may be. It’s good to have Godly friends to share your struggles and frustrations in life. We all need spiritual partners to pray for us, encourage us, support us and love us unconditionally. I’m blessed with great friends and I hope they’ll stay with me until the end of my story. God comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them same comfort God has given us. God has a purpose behind every problem. He sends us trials not to impair us but to improve us. Experience is the best teacher and we have been shaped by our experiences in life, most of which were beyond our control.

 God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well. He doesn’t waste abilities, He matches our calling and our capabilities. I love being a Nurse! When we love what we do, no one has to motivate us. My job requires a lot of patience (when our patients starts to scream on us and don’t appreciate the things we do), long hours of standing (to make sure that our patient needs are met), sleepless nights (on calls, shifting schedules & because we wanted to make sure our patients are comfortable in their beds). We want our patients to be OK (even if at times we are not), we take good care of the sick (even if we are sick ourselves) and we still go on duty (no matter what troubles and problems we’re going through) coz’ if not, WHO are going to TAKE CARE of you?

 

But don’t you know I never wanted to be a nurse? I even discouraged my friends to take up Nursing when we were in High school. In fact, there was a point in my life that I HATED NURSES. A nurse was at fault of my younger brother’s death. She’d given my mom the wrong medication that took my brother’s life and put my mother’s life at risk. My mother named him JOHN, but I wanted to call him MARK (don’t let me explain, I forgot the reason why J ). I didn’t took up nursing for revenge, of course not! I was 8 years old at that time. But look at me now, I’m a registered nurse and I sooo love my job! Maybe God wanted me to understand and totally forgive her of what she’d done to our family. It’s not easy to be a nurse, there’s a lot of responsibilities and risks involved. And I pray that wherever she is, she’ll find peace in her heart and I hope she’d forgiven herself.

The book “The Purpose Driven Life”, made me walk down memory lane and to fully understand why things happened the way they do. In John 3:17, God said “You do not realize now what I’m doing but later you will understand”. If there’s any possible consolation in the tragedy of losing someone we love, it’s the necessary hope that perhaps it was for the best. Our greatest lessons come out of pain and God keeps a record of our tears.