We see our lives as a series of events and relay those events of our life to others in story form which always has a beginning.
One year ago on this date, an major event in my life began when I pushed over the first domino, causing a chain reaction, which led to my termination two months later.
If I could have generally known the series of events that were to take place due to pushing over that first domino, would I have decided otherwise?
If I could have generally known that what working as a nurse would be like in 1982, would I still have chosen to go for my LPN license over of my paramedic certification?
What is a pivotal first domino pushing over nursing point in your life?
If you generally knew beforehand the series of events that were to take place in your nursing career, do you think you would have chosen to push over a different row of dominoes?
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
Well said Daisy. Did I read somewhere you are retired? If so how is retirement treating you? I want to pursue art when I retire. I actually would like to take classes at a local liberal arts college and just enjoy myself. I won't sit at home doing nothing that is for sure. I still have some dreams......
There WILL be life after nursing. I have never tied up my identity in being a nurse. I think a lot of make that mistake and that can be harmful. There is so much more to life.
I am retired and it is going well, ty. You should definitely pursue the art. I have mostly oil painted, took lessons 2 different times and started and stopped painting a few times. I only painted for hobby which I loved because it was only about the art, no pressure. There is definitely life after nursing. I have seen people retire badly bc their identity was wrapped up in what their prior work was, it is harmful and sad to watch.
Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
14 hours ago, Daisy4RN said:
I do agree that some people will see any "alternatives being explored" as stirring the pot.
I enjoyed reading your and SBE's posts so much, I'm considering taking bites out of them, masticating thoroughly, and digesting totally.
Exploring alternative schools of thought is sometimes a scary thing when we're comfortable being conventional. Taking people out of their comfort zone is sometimes like backing a cat into a corner and we have to deal with the ramifications thereof.
I know I'd much rather sit in my art room listening to Bach while I and generate GIFs rather than to explore the nonconventional array of exotic dancers riding a pole down in SoHo.
Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
10 hours ago, SmilingBluEyes said:
But my parents FORCED me to quit my art classes in high school (when I was winning national awards for my work) and FORCED me to go to university when I wanted to go to a CC and work a bit and see the world more. So I joined the USAF. In the military, when I have my first baby, well, that was when becoming a nurse became a dream. I had such admiration for the staff who cared for me and my sick son in the NICU. This was in the early 90s. . Times were good then, compared to now. I followed my dream and became an RN, in OB/GYN/Newborn, for a while. I was truly happy in those days and felt good at the end of any shift, even the hard ones.
An entire life in this paragraph. Or, as a friend once said of one of my graphic compositions, "There's a lot going on in that little space".
I say, "Wow. So much said".
10 hours ago, SmilingBluEyes said:
WAY back in nursing school, My nursing director made a speech our first day in class I will never forget: She said," you may or may not regret taking this path". I had no clue what the heck she meant, I KNEW I was never going to regret it........but--- She was right. I did regret it, not at first, but I kind of do, now.
Isn't it interesting when we can pinpoint a specific incident in our lives, something somebody said, that was the opening paragraph to a new chapter in our lives?
Sort of like pushing over that first domino and watching as the others fall.
One of my nursing instructors gave a speech on the first day of the program. She said something along the lines of "You will be going through a major time in your lives, and your lives are going to change... Some of you will not make it through the program... Some of you will be divorced by the end of the program."
I thought, "Naaaah!"
I can count at least three major life changes that I went through in the next two years, plus a multitude of minor changes.
Words of the prophets.
Oh- and BTW, SBE: Thank you, and a "great thread" requires great participants.
Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
9 hours ago, Daisy4RN said:
I remember the nurse who, after I told her no more kids, talked to me, cared for me, and told me I would forget the horrible part of the experience over time. I wanted to also provide that kind of care
What a touching story, Daisy! That moment when you knew you wanted to give back what was given to you!
Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
12 hours ago, SmilingBluEyes said:
I want to pursue art when I retire.
I wonder, SBE, are you pursuing art now? Doing art was therapeutic and a great catharsis when I was in the throes of a stressful nursing career.
Too often, I hear people say, "When I retire, I'm going to..." and they put off following their bliss. It's an understandable tact to take, one Daniel Gilbert labels in his book, Stumbling On Happiness, as "getting twice the juice from one orange". We get to experience the pleasure of looking forward to the event and then we get to experience the pleasure of the actual event.
In no way do I wish to give you a bummer, but please allow me to make a personal case in point: Many years ago, my older brother said, "When I retire, I'm going to do paintings of scenery. I want to get good at that".
He was a good artist in his own right with sketches and drawings and such, but not so much with landscape paintings. So I asked him, "Why don't you just go out and do paintings of scenery now?" My reasoning was to avoid the experience of disappointment, in finding out that the experience wasn't all it was cracked up to be, and beginning practise could also make room for improvement.
My Brother put me off, but did pursue other interests he was already really good at, like carpentry. However, he got sick, was forced to retire, and did not get a chance to "do paintings of scenery" before he passed away.
To pontificate and blather onward: I've lived my life pretty much as a grasshopper, more so than an ant. I saw life as a Summer and jumped around happily in the grass, but I also took note of the ways of the ant, who planned for the Winter. Just in case I died before I could experience the joy of retirement, I was going to experience the joy in short increments.
I believe Charles Schultz said something like, "The best vacations are the ones where you can be back home by noon".
Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
12 hours ago, Daisy4RN said:
I have mostly oil painted, took lessons 2 different times and started and stopped painting a few times. I only painted for hobby which I loved because it was only about the art, no pressure.
And for those of you who are interested, Daisy posted a great painting* she made in the Breakroom's "Ars Gratia Artis" forum. She made it several years ago as a gift, and the painting was inspired by (one of my favorite authors) Richard Bach's Jonathan Livingstone Seagull.
Andnow, back to our program...
12 hours ago, Daisy4RN said:
There is definitely life after nursing...
...and from my vantage point, I never knew how much life I had until I retired!
*EDIT: Hope you don't mind, Daisy, but I cropped and edited the original posted image...
Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
Speaking of the first domino...
In 1976, I was hit head-on by an intoxicated pickup truck driver while riding my older Brother, Eddy's, motorcycle. He was immediately at the scene to be with me as I lay unconscious with multiple injuries, including an overt open comminuted fracture of my right arm.
Eddy later told me that he had no idea of what to do, so he got over me and supported me by loudly telling me that I was going to be okay.
When I became an EMT in 1979, Eddy was quite impressed with me and took the EMT course himself.
This is an excerpt of the only pic I have of Eddy as a volunteer EMT working a boat show, circa 1980:
What a touching story, Daisy! That moment when you knew you wanted to give back what was given to you!
"That First Domino".
Act-shoo-lee (did I do that right?) the first domino was probably when I was a candy striper, add to that the child birth experience, and then when my mom had leukemia, all those together were what propelled me in the nursing direction, and later when the time was right I acted on that!
Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
Words in JBMom's post kept resounding in my head.
22 hours ago, JBMmom said:
On your "anniversary" I hope that you're at peace with what transpired. It's clearly brought you more time for your art...
Being at peace with the somewhat traumatic event of being terminated from a facility where I had worked the longest period of my nursing career is a good thing. I must admit, even though I knew that I could be fired, the actual act had me feeling as if the wind had been knocked out of me. But now I feel as though I've been blessed in so many ways.
JBMom mentioned my art, and there's so much more. My relationship with Belinda was in a good solid state before my termination, but it's gotten so much better. My health was good, but now I workout up to three times a day, sleep well, and I feel so much better.
And my little sister Cat who passed away three months after I was terminated. Near her end, for weeks, I visited her every day, something I couldn't have easily done that if I still worked.
Cat died on a Saturday, about the time I would have been sleeping for a couple of hours for my MN shift. Instead, I could easily with her when she passed.
Sometimes, that first domino that gets pushed over which allows us to rebound and experience things we never dreamed.
Specializes in New Critical care NP, Critical care, Med-surg, LTC.
6 hours ago, Davey Do said:
Too often, I hear people say, "When I retire, I'm going to..." and they put off following their bliss. It's an understandable tact to take, one Daniel Gilbert labels in his book, Stumbling On Happiness, as "getting twice the juice from one orange". We get to experience the pleasure of looking forward to the event and then we get to experience the pleasure of the actual event.
Such an important point! So sorry to read your brother's experience, I could easily see myself following in a similar path to his. I'm not someone that longs for retirement (yet), I'm not great with downtime, I tend to get restless and stuck in my own head. I'm a worker, it's what I've always done. I do have concerns that when my now-teenagers leave the house I will have trouble as an empty-nester because I've never really found pursuits to fill my time other than spending time with them. I'm not a helicopter parent, but most of my time not spent at work does revolve around chauffeur services and other parenting related responsibilities, which I love every minute of. Fortunately, I have a new career to embark and focus upon and maybe I will ease into more creative pursuits as time goes on.
SmilingBluEyes
20,964 Posts
Well said Daisy. Did I read somewhere you are retired? If so how is retirement treating you? I want to pursue art when I retire. I actually would like to take classes at a local liberal arts college and just enjoy myself. I won't sit at home doing nothing that is for sure. I still have some dreams......
There WILL be life after nursing. I have never tied up my identity in being a nurse. I think a lot of make that mistake and that can be harmful. There is so much more to life.