I bet no one had any idea 2020 was going to be as CRAZY as it has been!! Between COVID, riots, political tensions, economic uncertainty, and homeschooling (just to name a few of 2020’s surprises), this year has been the most challenging year of our lives for many of us. One amazing thing about challenging times is the opportunity to grow. We can take this time to become paralyzed and wallow in self-pity or we can look at what we DO have control over and GROW through what we GO through!!
We have an amazing team and we all decided to GROW through this time. We are currently doing a book study on John C. Maxwell’s book, The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth, with our team! This book has made a profound impact on all of us and our team asked that we share some of what we have learned in hopes that you, too, can grow through this challenging time.
One of our favorite chapters of the book is The Law of Reflection. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I have a hard time finding time in the day to use the bathroom…LOL!! My to-do-list grows by the second and I find myself moving from one task to another in order of importance and then POOF……it is 7:30 pm and time to go home, eat dinner, clean up, play with the dog and get ready for bed. By the end of the day, I am wiped out and mentally exhausted. While I may have accomplished many of my “to-do’s” on my list, how much depth of my day am I able to absorb without time for reflection? This chapter talks about the importance of taking the time to reflect so that we can truly evaluate, digest and allow the lessons and experiences we are exposed to throughout our day to truly sink in. One of my favorite paragraphs in the book says:
“If we don’t take the time to pause and reflect, we can miss the significance of such events. Reflection allows those experiences to move from being life markers to life makers. If we pause to allow growth to catch up with us, it makes our lives better, because we not only better understand the significance of what we’ve experienced, but we can implement changes and course corrections as a result. We are also better equipped to teach others from the wisdom we have gained (pg. 55)”
Part of John C. Maxwell’s recommendations for this reflection time is to identify and create a “thinking place”. This really got our team (including us) to be more purposeful about creating a thinking spot where we can truly pause and reflect. As a society, we have gotten so addicted to being busy and constantly multitasking, it seems like our brain never gets a chance to rest and reflect. It is through this reflection time that we can make plans for change and grow with a purpose rather than letting our to-do list and our daily demands dictate our professional and personal growth.
We have all made a goal this week to identify and create a thinking place and spend at least 10 minutes per day reflecting on our experiences and truly letting them absorb and digest so that we may better serve each other, our patients and our community. We would like to encourage you to take on this challenge as well. We would love to hear about your space and what you find when you consistently and purposefully spend time reflecting. After all…we have never been given such an opportunity to GROW through what we are all GOING through!
