What I Learned Changing Jobs
You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.
CS Lewis
Change isn’t always easy, is it? Our schedules get uprooted and often our security blanket is removed. Sometimes the change is easy, while other times it can be difficult.
I learned that I made a difference. For so many years, I didn’t believe that. I worked hard and gave so much, yet never thought it would make a difference. Much less getting through anywhere.
My patient told me I was one in a million. She shared with me her dislike of doctors and having so many health problems. She shared how a doctor's appointment scared her and caused her great anxiety. I learned on my last day with her, just how much my kindness had meant to her throughout the years.
With tears in her eyes, she told me not to change. To speak kindness every day, in everything I did. For in doing so I would continue to have an impact.
That through my patience and my willingness to break things down, she felt as if she mattered. We had built a relationship and she trusted me. Though I didn’t realize it with every encounter through the years, she appreciated everything I did. The little acts of kindness had gone a long way.
Of course, I am excited about a new opportunity ahead of me. New patients, a new team, and lots to learn. I have embraced the memories and found myself feeling all of the bittersweet feelings. I gave myself permission to be present. To take it all in. And to reflect on the sweet words I had heard from those I had spent many years around. Many hours had been invested in relationships that I was now stepping away from. Stepping into new relationships and experiences.
A job transition is just that, a transition. An opportunity to reflect, be thankful and spread our wings as we step into a new opportunity for serving and growth. A time to reflect and sit in gratitude.
If I could share with you the lesson it took me a while to learn, it would be this. You are making a difference where you are. I know it. Choose to believe it.
You must choose first to be kind to yourself. Believe you are equipped for the job at hand. I learned that I could not do everything, but I could do something.
Kindness goes a long way. I was blessed to hear from my patient. I was reminded that God can always use us, even when we don’t feel like it.
The same is true for you today. Wherever you are and whatever you may be going through. God has put you in a specific place for a reason. Choose kindness. You may just never know the blessings that await.
Hebrews 10:36 NIV
You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.
