What an awesome experiene! It was very relaxing and comforting. As I reflected I remembered my Godmother, Nanny. She is so special to me. She has so much encouragement and wisdom to share. My parents both passed away many years ago. I never heard them say "I love you" or "I am proud of you" even once. Yet my Nanny makes it a priority to tell me that she loves me and she is proud of me. Even during the times in my life when I was not making good choices, Nanny, still said she loved me and that she was proud of me and she knew I would get back on track. I reflected back to last summer when I took my kids on vacation. We went to Great Wolf Lodge in Dallas, Texas. What a wonderful place! Before we went there we went to see my Nanny. She had no idea we were coming. I told her all about school and what I was doing. My Nanny said that my parents would be so proud of me. I told her no I didn't think they would be. Nanny explained that they were just to into their own stuff to pay attention to anyone else but she was sure they would be proud. She went on to tell me how much she loved me and how proud she was at how I grew up and became a good mom even without a good example of a good mom. As I reflected it was great to look back at the progress and accomplishments in my life.
"One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself." I think that means that it is not enough to have book knowledge only even though book knowledge is good. I can only relate to my own experience. For example, I can read all or parts of the Alcoholic Anonymous Big Book and try to help an alcoholic get sober. I will not be very effective. However, since I have been in recovery and clean and sober for 24 years I can be more effective. I can share my experience, strength, and hope with them. I can what has worked for me and what has not worked for me. I believe that God allows us to go through certain things and go down certain roads for a reason. We may not understand that reason but down the road there will be people we can help because of our experiences.
I belive the health and wellness professional needs to be a good listener. It would also help if you put yourself in their shoes so you can show compassion and empathy. It is important to develop your own psychological, physical, and spiritual self. It would be very hard for a health and wellness professional who is not well herself or himself to help someone who is sick and needs help. You can't teach what you don't have yourself. An active alcoholic can't teach another alcoholic how to get sober. I can implement psychological and spiritual growth in my own life by practicing meditation, relaxation, not focusing on the negative and worrying, being involved in my local church, and reducing my own stress. I have found that staying in a routine really helps too.
I would first like to say, congratulations on being sober for 24 years! That is a great feat and you should be so proud of yourself! I think this was a great example of the quote "one cannot lead another where one has not gone himself". Unless you are going through or have gone through the same thing or something very similar, it would be very hard to give the other person advice.
ReplyDeleteHealth and wellness professionals definitely need to carry the trait of being good listeners. They need to be able to "listen" to what their clients hope to learn or what they want their end goal to be. If a personal trainer looks unhealthy or does not practice in getting physical exercise, then how will they be able to guide others in the proper exercises or the correct form they should be using. Clients will not want to take advice from someone who personally isn't practicing what they are teaching to others.
~Kristin Croake
Donna, I think it is great that you had such a wonderful person fo focus on during this exercise. I struggled with this but you seem to have so much appreciation and respect for your nanny that it worked well for you. In this day and age it may be hard to find a person to really consider as a role model and I understand that everyone makes mistakes but this is troublesome for me. I also agree that staying with a routine is important especially when you have small children. I know when I have a routine I am more productive and more focused. I have noticed as my children have grown I do not really have a routine, I think it is just an adjustment period and once I am done with school I will be able to focus on other things besides work and school.
ReplyDeleteThank you
Cindy Potucek
By starting off with the concept of being a good listener is excellent. So many that have issues look for someone who is at least able to listen. Maybe they can't understand fully but having a person listening to your stories is a huge step toward wellness. Where you're taking a load off your shoulders and if there is some insight then you have a soundboard. Physicians themselves must learn to be good listeners to understand where the physical pain originates, we must learn to listen to find the source of psychological pain.
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