EVERY DAY IS A NEW CHANCE FOR SMALL CHANGES

Every day has promises to keep with miles to go before we sleep.

Sound familiar?

It was a poem written by an old man named Robert Frost.

When I first read ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ I chalked it up to a reflection on mortality.

Reading it now, instead of a high school English class, it sinks in a little deeper.

We may have miles to go before we sleep, but not as many miles this time. And we’re not being pulled along by a little horse.

But we’re still getting pulled. What’s pulling you along?

Starting out, we get pulled by potential and expectations. Some more reasonable than others.

Do Well In School?

Some of us caught on better early. Doing well in school became a habit that transferred to more school, more education, and a better job potential.

If that was you, good work. It wasn’t me, and I don’t know anyone from the time who did well.

But I learned.

I liked telling my kids when they were young that you couldn’t tell who the smart kids were until they hired you later.

They didn’t get it.

I gave them advice whether they got it or not. It was based on experience.

When I moved back to Oregon after living in Brooklyn, NY, I worked in the Veterans Administration Hospital on Portland, Oregon’s Pill Hill.

I was a nurse’s assistant on the orthopedic ward. I wanted to join the staff in the psych ward like Ken Kesey and get insight into the human condition, maybe do another version of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.

Since I was new in town I didn’t have much of a social system, a grounding group of friends and family to take the stress off the job. Apparently there was lots of stress in the VA psych ward compared to the rest of the wards.

One evening I was on the bus winding it’s way down the hill to the bus mall where I’d transfer to another bus headed out the SE Portland.

Someone Looked Familiar

It was the valediction from high school on their way home after med school classes.

We sat together and got caught up.

By the time they got off I knew more about my destiny. I needed to tie up a few loose ends, one of which was a rag-tag collection of college classes that amounted to nothing close to a degree.

The smart kid inspired me to do better every day.

Thank you, Dr. Hammar.

A New Chance For Change

Soon after that bus ride I made a change. What was I doing with my life in the VA? I’d met some long-term employees and knew I’d never be one.

One of the other nurse’s aids on the floor, a older woman married to a doctor before he dumped her for a young nurse, was the Bull Goose.

She was smart and vengeful and mean as a cornered cougar.

Her specialty was restraining male patients just out of surgery and a little out of their comfort zone.

Any back-talk to her meant getting tied to their bed. Some of them had very bad reactions and went berserk.

I talked to the Head Nurse, a woman named Jimmy, who saw nothing wrong with retraining men. The men had a different opinion.

After that meeting I was a target. I broke the rule in the Nurse Mafia when I complained.

What Makes A Good Change Every Day

Make a good assessment of where you are. Sometimes we’re the last to know, so ask someone’s opinion of what they think. Go ahead and show some vulnerability.

My favorite resources are older people with miles to go before they sleep, not those resting on their laurels.

Checking with someone who knows you well comes with its own problems. They know you as you are and might back away from helping change happen.

If an old friend gets snippy and snotty, it’s because you’re making them think about changing every day.

But let’s not get too far ahead of the process.

Get a solid take on where you are today, and where you want to be.

Even if you’re satisfied with where you are, why not make a small change. I mentioned this in a previous post and added the fear element. A reader commented that fear can be knowledge.

Fear can be knowledge if you attend Fox News University and fear some of the stupid spewed out of their tense faces. If they look frightened, then there must be something there? Not likely.

Change based on Fox fear is not a good change. And it’s not news. Besides, change doesn’t take a side unless you change from a regular idiot to an Insurrection Idiot. But that’s not you, right?

Just like every long journey starts with a first step, make a small change, then another the next day.

How Long Will It Take To Register Every Day?

If it registers with you, who else is keeping track? Whoever that might be, they don’t keep track every day like you.

Your results are yours to share, or not share. The telling moment comes when those who know you say, “Who knew you had it in you?”

Do you have it in you to change a little every day? You most certainly do, so get started.