Obligation, Passion and Purpose

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about obligation, passion and purpose.

As this global pandemic continues to rage, I have decided to return to my pre-baby job as a critical care nurse. I know the local Intensive Care Units are struggling after having been bombarded with COVID cases on top of the usual life-threatening stuff (car accidents, heart attacks, respiratory failure, etc.). Now as flu- season approaches, the busiest time of the year for the ICU, I can only imagine the stress, and even despair, my old team is feeling.

Part of me wishes I could just pretend that they aren't overwhelmed. Part of me wants to bury my head in the sand and ignore the world around me. I love my life with my boys, my house, my writing and my dog. My nice little bubble. I could easily choose to focus only on my bubble.

Or I can choose to see beyond it and engage with my community and world.

My reflections on obligation made me realize that I can’t return to work just because I should. From years of counseling, I know doing something because I should will only bring resentment.

Rather, I am returning to work because of passion and purpose. I want to serve my community. I want to offer fresh energy to an exhausted team. I want to help slow this crazy pandemic so we can all move on to more fun and/or more important things!

So, with that said, I am going to try to be an ICU nurse again.

I will be posting less as I figure out the details of re-entering the work force, re-learning my old skillset and figuring out this whole work-life balance thing.

My hope is to continue to write as time allows but for this next season, my time, energy and focus will be elsewhere. I have lots more to say and am excited to share more about the nuances of health when the time is right.

Thanks to everyone for reading.