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Gratitude, Day 3
Nov. 7th, 2011 07:44 pmThis evening I am grateful for kind, thoughtful clients, and for reminders that sometimes I make a difference in my job.
This morning started out as a nightmare. I made it into work 20 minutes before my shift started, hoping to make myself a cup of tea, review my cases for the day, and get a head start on phone calls. Instead, I walked into a madhouse. We were down at least one staff person in each department. Every emergency slot left open in my morning schedule had already been booked, and there were two more walk-in emergencies waiting. My computer wasn't working (a fairly hefty problem in a paperless office). And in spite of having come in on Thursday on my day off to get ahead of the game, my inbox was stuffed with phone calls to return, prescriptions to fill, records for new clients, and referral reports - and, hidden inside the stack, a beautiful thank-you card from a client I had seen a few weeks ago.
In the middle of a nightmare day, having tangible proof that I'm good at my job - that someone appreciated what I did, enough to take the time to write down how they felt and send it to me; that I made a difference in their life and that what I did mattered to them - was enough to turn my day around. Sometimes, when things get crazy-rough at work, I wonder why I bother, why I beat my head against the walls of angry animals and angrier clients and financial barriers and fear of litigation and stressy coworkers. Today that wasn't a problem.
Little things really can make a difference.
This morning started out as a nightmare. I made it into work 20 minutes before my shift started, hoping to make myself a cup of tea, review my cases for the day, and get a head start on phone calls. Instead, I walked into a madhouse. We were down at least one staff person in each department. Every emergency slot left open in my morning schedule had already been booked, and there were two more walk-in emergencies waiting. My computer wasn't working (a fairly hefty problem in a paperless office). And in spite of having come in on Thursday on my day off to get ahead of the game, my inbox was stuffed with phone calls to return, prescriptions to fill, records for new clients, and referral reports - and, hidden inside the stack, a beautiful thank-you card from a client I had seen a few weeks ago.
In the middle of a nightmare day, having tangible proof that I'm good at my job - that someone appreciated what I did, enough to take the time to write down how they felt and send it to me; that I made a difference in their life and that what I did mattered to them - was enough to turn my day around. Sometimes, when things get crazy-rough at work, I wonder why I bother, why I beat my head against the walls of angry animals and angrier clients and financial barriers and fear of litigation and stressy coworkers. Today that wasn't a problem.
Little things really can make a difference.
