Pause, reflect, recharge: the power of taking breaks
Time is scarce in the healthcare field. It can feel like we are always rushing and there is simply no time to pause and take care of ourselves. Unfortunately, often that is not sustainable in the long run. Taking care of yourself and your energy levels will make you more productive and less error-prone in the long run. Here’s some quotes to remind you!
“For fast-acting relief, try slowing down.”
– Lily Tomlin
“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes. Including you.”
– Annie Lamott
“The time to relax is when you don’t have time for it.”
– Sydney J. Harris
“There is more to life than increasing the speed.”
– Mahatma Gandhi
“Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.”
– Ovid
“Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is relax.”
– Mark Black
“One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was from a horse master. He told me to go slow to go fast. I think that applies to everything in life. We live as though there aren’t enough hours in the day but if we do each thing calmly and carefully we will get it done quicker and with much less stress.”
– Viggo Mortensen
Grace under fire: balancing stress without lashing out
When you are living in a constant state of stress, it is easy to either isolate yourself, or take it out on the people around you. Toxic work environments in healthcare are something many have experienced, and it only makes matters worse. Remember that the human relationships and encounters that you have every day can shape your experience significantly – they can be additional sources of stress, or they can be very healing.
“We’ve all had stress creep up on us without even noticing it until we lost it on someone who didn’t deserve it, and then we realize that we probably should have checked in with ourselves a little earlier.”
– Ariel Garten
On self-belief: trusting your journey by beginning it and rising to the challenge
You can do it! If only it was easy to believe that in all those moments when things go wrong or are overwhelming. Instead of focusing on a mountain of tasks in front of you, focus on the first step. Here’s a few pieces of advice from famous people who found words to rekindle your drive and motivation:
“You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”
– Martin Luther King
“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.”
– Confucius
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”
– Mark Twain
“Take chances, make mistakes–that is how we grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave.”
– Mary Tyler Moore
“To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan and not quite enough time.”
– Leonard Bernstein
“Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over – it turned into a butterfly!”
– Chuang Tzu
“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”
– Albert Einstein
“Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.”
– Arnold Schwarzenegger
“It is not how much we do, but how much love we put into doing it.”
– Mother Teresa
Chasing happiness: beating worry and anxiety
Working in a stressful, high-pressure environment can send students and professionals into perpetual survival mode. There is, and always will be, plenty to worry about. Pausing now and then and putting things in perspective can help ground you and refocus on why you’re doing what you’re doing, and remind you that things seem more daunting when they pile up in your mind. It’s easier said than done, but maybe these quotes can give you a boost that helps reduce the stressing that happens in our own minds, and support your mental health.
“To experience peace doesn’t mean that your life is always blissful. It means that you are capable of tapping into a blissful state of mind amidst the normal chaos of a hectic life.”
– Jill Bolte Taylor
“Don’t believe in every worried thought you have. Worried thoughts are notoriously inaccurate.”
– Renee Jain
“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.”
– William James
“It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.”
– Lou Holtz
“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.”
– Elbert Hubbard
“Worrying is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere.”
– Glenn Turner
“Some people are so used to experiencing stress that they don’t remember what life was like without it.”
– Andrew J. Bernstein
“Stress is like a wave. It comes and goes. We can’t stop the waves, but we can learn to surf them.”
– Jon Kabat-Zinn
“Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy.”
– Leo Buscaglia
Laughter is the best medicine
Rarely are the stakes higher than in healthcare – this is about people’s lives. But we’re human, and nobody can be 100% focused and serious all the time. Using humor to cope is common for a reason, it works well for a lot of us! As Simone Biles rightly put it:
“You don’t have to be serious all the time to do a good job.”
– Simone Biles
“We must have a pie. Stress cannot exist in the presence of a pie.”
– David Mamet
“If you treat every situation as a life and death matter, you’ll die a lot of times.”
– Dean Smith
“There cannot be a stressful crisis next week. My schedule is already full.”
– Henry Kissinger
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