The first time
What happens when we do something for the first time?
We have an entire lifetime of firsts. First step, first word, first day of school, first kiss, first job, car, child, etc etc etc.
Well, here is my first BLOG POST!
How do we do on our first try at something? That it’s not frequently as good of an outcome as we expect. Sometimes it is even a complete failure (first step – who fell? I did! and I bet you did too). First kiss – oh my!! And sometimes we knock it out of the park! My first time golfing I had an amazing game (now I can’t recreate that day).
Ok, but here’s what we get out of EVERY first – learning! As a nurse this came to me early on. There I was, at my first test in the simulation lab, in nursing school and I FAILED! Do you want to know what the test was? WASHING MY HANDS! How embarrassing. Yes, I called my mom crying “How will I ever be a nurse, I can’t even wash my hands!” Here I am 25+ years later, with clean hands during a pandemic to prove that I finally passed.
WE HAVE TO START SOMEWHERE. WE HAVE TO LEARN TO BE KIND TO OURSELVES AND ALLOW THE GROWTH TO HAPPEN. GROWTH HAPPENS IN THE PROCESS. WHAT DO I MEAN BY THAT? WELL, THINK OF A FLOWER. IT DOESN’T STAY IN THE GROUND AND THEN POP UP ONE DAY WITH A BEAUTIFUL ROSE. IT GROWS SLOWLY AND DAY BY DAY YOU SEE IT BUD AND THEN EVENTUALLY THE FLOWER WILL BLOOM. THAT IS GROWING IN THE PROCESS.
The saying “life is a journey” has been a joke to me most of my life. I wanted to get to the next thing, and I couldn’t wait. The journey in my 20’s was me traveling from state to state as a travel nurse. NY, TX, CA, AZ, CT – there were many trips across the country. However, my true journey was stalled and I didn’t know it. I wasn’t learning. I wasn’t growing for me. I was looking for everyone else’s perfect life. When I decided to stay in Washington State after meeting the man of my dreams, I was “forced” to stop changing my scenery (ie: traveling every 3 months) I was able to see that the journey I was looking for was inside me the entire time. Over the past 12 years I have grown and learned more than I did in all of the 20 years prior to that.
I now enjoy the firsts (even a scary blog to put myself out there). I now know that by taking this first step it will only mark for me how much I have grown when I look back in 3, 5 or 10 years.
May this first post be a great learning for me to be able to serve you all in the future even better! Here’s to the first time!