Tag Archives: imperfectperspective

11 Reasons Why I Chose A Career In Becoming A Health Care Professional

12 Thursday Feb 2015

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When we decide to choose what career path to take, we blend our hobbies and interests to choose a career most compatible for us.

I find writing to not only be one of hobbies, but more of my getaway – my comfort, relief, and protection. It’s helped me develop a sense of trust within myself and given me the confidence and ability to develop that trust with others by sharing part of myself – my experiences, lessons, optimism, and morale of wellness and improving your overall quality of life, with the community.

It has motivated me to get into a field where I can directly incorporate those words and feelings into actions with my future patients.

The healthcare profession is one of the biggest and rapidly growing fields today. Apart from my love of writing, there are several other reasons that sparked my interest in becoming a health care professional. Here are eleven of them:

1) Understanding the Patient Perspective

Most of us have been patients before getting into the health-care profession. We know that we want our health care professionals to be empathic, make us feel comfortable, and develop a trusting relationship with us. Knowing how it feels to be a patient yourself is what makes us understand the patient perspective and treat patients more like people.

 2) Job Growth and Stability

Because health is crucial to every single individual, health care professionals are high in demand. The country’s population is aging and more Americans are in need of continued medical care than ever before.

 3) Knowledge Expansion

As health care professionals, we provide knowledge to our patients about medicine and health care so that they will feel empowered as opposed to feeling like they cannot provide medical care for their own community.  Regardless of personal circumstances, the people that we are helping are capable people, but some have not had the same opportunities.  The reality is that, even though people currently have more access to health care, the needs of certain communities are still not being met. It’s important to give back, especially to underprivileged communities, in hope that it becomes a chain reaction and healthcare knowledge can spread to other parts of our world.

 4) Team Work

Every single member of the health care profession contributes to a portion of care, whether it be big or small. All members of the patients’ multidisciplinary health team work together to provide the patient with the best holistic care (physical, emotional, spiritual) available. Whether you plan, assess, treat, or deliver the actual care to the patient – you are still working as part of a team to deliver high quality care to the patient to improve their overall quality of life.

5) Respect in Society

The reason why people respect health care professionals is because they contribute their life towards serving others. They respect their patients. The thing is, our patient’s feelings might mean nothing to us, but it means everything to them and because of that very reason, we care to listen to what they have to say, and really do our best to meet their needs.

6) Excitement and Variation

Healthcare is fast paced and incredibly varied. You will deal with many different circumstances, situations and people; each of these is unique. You will always be on your toes because you never know what is going to happen!

7) Ability to Travel

You get the opportunity to travel anywhere. You can relocate easily because health care is in demand all over the world!

8) Meeting New People

As a health care professional, you meet new people every single day. It is exciting to gain perspective and insight, especially from someone who thinks differently than you do. It’s phenomenal to hear the experiences that people have had and how it has shaped them to become the person they are today. We might be helping them, but little do they know that they are helping us to become more understanding, empathic, compassionate, selfless, and well rounded individuals who strive to make the world a better and healthier place.

9) Emotionally Rewarding and Internally Satisfying

Being a health care professional is an emotionally rewarding career. Although it can be a very demanding profession, you will get the internal satisfaction of helping people improve their overall quality of live by providing them with efficient care. This also means you also have the opportunity to interact with people on a daily basis and really develop a strong relationship with them.

10) The Ability to Make a Difference

You can make the most difference while being in the health care profession. This is simply because you are working with and for others. Even a simple interaction can make all the difference in the world. You could help bring a new life into the world, or save a life from ending. You have the ability to change lives.

11) The Challenge

Being in the health care profession can be a stressful and challenging job. I want the healthy stress, and I want the challenges that each patient and situation brings forth. I want the personal interaction. I want the ups and downs, and everything in between because for me, no other profession offers me the opportunity to thrive in a challenging work environment, while simultaneously valuing empathy.

9 Lessons We Can Learn From Old People

27 Tuesday Jan 2015

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Everyone gets to be young, but not everyone gets to be old. As time goes by, we all age; we get weaker and more disease prone. Have you ever noticed in this generation, more so, that we disrespect elderly people or find them a nuisance to deal with? In traditional cultures, elders are honored and respected. It seems like in this day and age, people are addicted to the illusion that we can maintain our youth indefinitely; we simply don’t like the reminders that we are getting older.  For me, personally, older people serve as role models for the younger generation because they simply know more about life than we do. They have already crossed the phase of life that we are going through right now, yet people seem to be overlooking the importance of old people in our society. Here are nine lessons that can be learned from old people:

1. Just be yourself

Old people know who they are. They do whatever they want and get away with it simply because they have lived enough life to know that they don’t need to impress anyone. We don’t need to wait our whole lives to just be ourselves.

2. Genuine Wisdom

Old people give you advice for the sole purpose and intent of helping you. They care and want to help you out because they have also learned and gone through enough of life to give you advice and genuine wisdom.

 3. Love

You learn a lot about life the longer you live, and even more about love. I am just 23 years old, but the reason I know this is because I’ve seen this love in almost every older person I’ve encountered. They’ve been through enough to value love and share it with others.

4. Experience

We are all different and each of us has a unique life. Think for a moment about what has happened in your life so far. Now multiple that by at least 50 and you’ll eventually begin to see the value in an elder’s life experience. Old people have grown making many mistakes and facing consequences for them. They can teach you how to avoid the mistakes that they made so you may not have to go through the same experience.

 5. Priorities

Old people guide you in planning your life out because they already know what should be set as a priority and what shouldn’t be. It may get irritating, but the thing is that they have already faced the things which you are going through now and have attained so much knowledge about them with age. We tend to make social media our priority, when maybe we should reconsider and make the people we love our priority.  Think about the fact that they didn’t have Google, Wikipedia, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.  Props to them.

6. Perspective

I absolutely love listening to old people ramble about some amazing incidents in their journey of life. It gives me so much insight of lifestyle in their time. It is helpful knowing why things are the way they are in their present time; it gives perspective.

7. Family values

When you look at old people, you learn about family values such as respect, honesty, and forgiveness. These values you learn from them will help you to solidify your personal family bonds as well as teach you the importance of cherishing your loved ones.

8. Acceptance

Old people are way better at accepting difficult situations and disappoints in life. They simply know that life must go on. They help you cultivate acceptance despite the mishaps that come your way.  After all, they made it this far, and all they want is the same for you.

9) We are only getting older.

You need to realize that one day, if you are lucky, you might be in their shoes. This is why I stress to treat them with the same love and respect that you would want to be treated when you get older. If you are one of those people that disrespects your elders, finds them annoying, or thinks they are a burden to your life, maybe you should re-evaluate yourself and the kind of person you are. Sad to say, but you’ll only know how it feels if and when your time comes. I know myself, and I have the upmost love and respect for all my elders. I want to recognize and celebrate their sophistication and foresight to this journey of life. We are so busy growing up that we tend to overlook the fact that others are growing old. As I grow older, I hope I’m fortunate enough to show off my wrinkles – to show everyone how happy I am, what I made it through, and how wise these old people have made me.

An Open Letter To My Future Self

09 Friday Jan 2015

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Dear Future Me,

You’re smiling as you read this because you understand that the CHOICES I make today affect you and your daily life right now.  You are truly proud and honored to have been me because your overall journey sprinkled with mistakes, hardships, rejections, failures, and heartbreaks became your recipe to the happiness that resides in you in this very moment.

Remember the times when you felt stuck and couldn’t find a way to move forward? Remember how you QUESTIONED your existence or your identity, trying to figure out who you really were, where you belong, and what purpose you serve? Remember when you were too scared to leave stagnant relationships and look towards the personal and spiritual growth potential within you? Well, look at you now. You’ve made it this far.

Although life hasn’t offered the most clarity, you’ve come a long ways. You’ve LEARNED to let go of fear and embrace beauty and pain for what it is. As beautiful yet terrifying as it is right now for me and was back then for you, you’ve become your own best friend, yet still manage to have an abundance of love within your heart to give to everyone – your family, friends, and even strangers. I am certain that this quality of you and me will always remain. But you see, I know that everything happening right now is part of my bigger plan for you. You should know now that all the turbulence and stress was so divinely put into my life to help me become the person I need to be and the person you are today.

You’ve taken a full leap of faith into the unknown and are aware that no matter what life throws at you, you are stronger, smarter, healthier, and more beautiful than you were the day before. Remember, that you are not defined by your struggles or any situation that you find yourself in. You ride the waves of life with such ease now. Sometimes, it makes me want to catch up to you faster because often times, when I hit a tide, I seem to crash. I know that my life in the moment is a web of tangled and intricate experiences and emotions that have helped mold me into you. Trust me, I am WORKING every single day to make myself better for you.

The thing is- I love myself now, but I love the thought of you-my future, more. I love the idea right now of growing into someone who dictates my own future, and I absolutely cannot wait to grow into the person you are now – confident, wise, mature, strong, independent, charismatic, and imperfect.

The reason I’m telling you this now is because I want you to remember how much you’ve already lived in the little moments that have shaped your world and molded your heart in the most beautiful way possible. I want you to accept the wonders of this crazy journey that only you have lived and that you CONTINUE to live. I want you to feel appreciative for everything and everyone, because I sure am right now.

Although I am the past to you, I still am very much you. In this moment in time, I don’t know where you are or what you do, but I’m still you. What I do know is that, I envision you to be the best version of myself. And so when that day comes, I will know, and I will be proud of the person you are. I also want you to know that I am doing just fine and so are you. One thing that I’ve learned so far is that life is too short.  I will CONTINUE to be “old enough to know better but young enough to do it anyway.” So, laugh about all the silly mistakes I’m making at the moment and be grateful for that because it lead you to be who you are right now.

With Love Always,

Who am I?

Embracing “Only Child Syndrome”

08 Thursday Jan 2015

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Many people make assumptions; one of these includes what it’s like being an only child. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard, “You must be spoiled,” or “Don’t you get lonely?”

For the longest time, I was jealous that all my friends had a sibling that they could do everything with. I couldn’t tell you how badly I wanted a sibling, but often we don’t get what we want, so we have to work with what we got.

And, well, I’ve got myself. I realized that being an only child was actually a blessing in disguise when I finally learned how to embrace the benefits of having “only child syndrome,” as people would like to call it.

Being an only child taught me the most important skill of all: how to be comfortable being alone. Now, more than ever, in the first few years of adulthood, and consequently your 20s, you find that time for self-love. You take time to reflect and grow on your own.

As an only child, I have appreciated and valued alone time all throughout my life. It’s something that others crave and learn when the hustle of adulthood actually kicks in.

As you grow older, you will realize that after heartbreaks, failures, rejections and hardships, you will have to learn how to be comfortable alone. Sure, there will be people to support you, but ultimately it is up to you to get through it by yourself.

Solitude is a time for reflection, and in a world that is increasingly fast paced and competitive, solitude is meaningful and something to be treasured.

As an only child, you learn that you are your own competition. I grew up having to just compete with myself, and I can’t tell you how much that taught me. Competing with others can bring out the worst in your character, but competing with yourself can bring out the best in you and push you to improve yourself every single day.

I’ve grown up to serve others and be selfless, while simultaneously loving myself whole-heartedly. At an earlier age, I was taught to be completely content being my own best friend first. This quality has given me the strength to never depend on anyone, have expectations from anyone and most importantly, never lose myself in the process of it all.

I am not going to sit here and say that I haven’t done any of those things because let’s be real, we all have done at least one. But, it’s definitely allowed me to quickly bounce back from it all and reassured me that I can get through anything on my own since I have for most of my life. It has also taught me that by loving myself first, I can also love and care for others in the healthiest, most genuine, way possible.

I was grown up to be around adults at such a young age. It’s actually been quite beneficial because I find myself engaging in intellectual conversations. Growing up, every time I have had an issue of some sort, I didn’t have a sibling to resort to so I would always run to my momma. I can proudly say that she is one of my best friends. Being an only child has allowed me to develop an even closer bond with my parents and has given me the opportunity to thrive on my own with their unconditional love and support.

As an only child, who is an extreme extrovert, I have also developed lasting friendships throughout the years. However, the thing is, as most of us grow up, we realize the fewer friends we have, the better. I can say that I consider my close knit group of friends part of my family, since I don’t have any real siblings of my own.

I cherish and am appreciative of what I was given and blessed with, and I only hope that this motivates others to do the same. So, for those of you who do have an actual sibling, consider yourself grateful and embrace the benefits as well! I might be an eccentric only child who sometimes talks to herself, but I’ve learned to laugh and go along with the jokes and sometimes utterly ridiculous comments or assumptions that are made. And, well, for those of you who do manage to be stereotypical and judgmental, all I have to say is “You laugh because I’m different. I laugh because you are all the same.”

What A Man Struggling With Parkinson’s Disease Taught Me About Life

06 Tuesday Jan 2015

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The one thing I think I need in life in order to survive is love. If I don’t love myself, I will never be able to survive on my own or love anyone else. It will lead me to develop instability, dependency, insecurity and emotional turmoil.

Parkinson’s disease — any kind of disease, for that matter — works the same way. We need something or another human for us to survive.

Parkinson’s disease is an insidious and very stealthy condition, which sneaks into your body and mind and manifests itself inside of you. The one thing those who have Parkinson’s need is dopamine, a neurotransmitter that assists with motor functions.

The brain’s inability to produce dopamine causes those diagnosed to develop tremors, difficulty with speech, loss of balance, trouble swallowing and emotional trauma.

I want to share a story of a man diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and what he taught me about life.

His eyes were half-closed and his arms stiff. He lay on the bed, breathless in the quietness, mulling on how to straighten out his arm and uncurl his toes. His hands tremble as he is unable to move.

His hands condensate as he slowly tries to reach out to pour some water in a glass, but quivers from the uncontrollable impulses taking over his body. I run out and call the nurse to give him his medication. With time, he slowly begins to unravel, but is now in control of his body again.

Welcome to the world of Nathan, a patient and now a friend, who I had the privilege to watch, get to know and take care of.

Every time I interned at the hospital, I spent my day with this incredible man. It’s very rare to find such an optimistic and determined man find the strength to endure such a cruel disease over which he holds no control.

I continuously watched him fight his battle with such comfort and ease that it almost frightened me. I slowly found relief when I became accustomed to the lessons this man taught me about life, while combating his condition.

He found some kind of humor in his condition. He once told me how when he had his first tremor, he had an intimate moment with “Parkie” (his nickname for Parkinson’s disease) on the floor and ended up finding his wife’s favorite missing earring.

He taught me there’s always a way to find something to laugh about and appreciate the little things life has to offer.

It’s the way I’ve seen him lose his balance and stumble. He taught me that it’s important to keep balance in your life, regardless of the falls or stumbles.

It’s the way I’ve seen him become stiff and unable to move. He taught me to be flexible and move on through life, knowing that every person has his or her own set of battles and challenges to face.

It’s the way I’ve seen him try to talk and have difficulties with his speech. He taught me to speak up and learn to communicate with others.

It’s the way I’ve seen him rely on medication to control his symptoms. He taught me it is okay to rely on people and ask for help if you are going through a difficult time.

It’s the way I’ve seen him in physical pain when his muscles start to contract. He taught me pain is temporary, and it won’t last forever.

It’s the way I’ve seen him feel emotionally stressed and disturbed at times. He taught me tomorrow is a new day, and we are capable of taking challenges that initially make us weak to eventually make us strong.

It’s the way he advised me that the passing of time holds a new meaning of value and importance. He taught me you never know what tomorrow holds, so always try to push for today.

Anyone can be diagnosed with any type of illness. Anyone can go through any type of problem, but even though you may have certain obstacles and setbacks, or your life isn’t turning out the way you planned, life can be pretty amazing if you choose to adapt to a situation you believe is negative and solely focus on the positives.

You can decide to change your reality by changing your mentality.

After my experience with Nathan, my answer to my initial question changed. What I — no, what WE all — need in life to survive are experiences like these.

We all need experiences to change, to learn, to love ourselves and others, to shape us into who we become and most importantly, to make us realize that to be happy in life, we must learn the difference between what we want and what we need.

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Published on EliteDaily: http://elitedaily.com/life/man-diagnosed-parkinsons-disease-taught-life/887427/

 

I Love College – Freshman Year Vs. Senior Year

06 Tuesday Jan 2015

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I look back at my four years of college, and I wish I could just relive every single moment of it. The college experience is unique for everyone, but the one thing that we all have in common, is that we are experiencing new things – new people, new friendships, new relationships, and a new environment. I remember as I entered college, I felt nervous yet excited because for the first time in my life, I was free from the restraints of my parents; I could do whatever I wanted. I gained independence, but more than that, I gained responsibility. I learned my limits when it came to people, friendships, relationships, drinking, studying, etc. From meeting new people, to pulling pranks on one another, to late night fast food runs, to partying till the morning, to pulling all-nighters, to studying for a midterm the next day, to building lasting relationships, to all the giggles, tears, and everything in between…you go and grow through it all.   It’s the time where it’s okay to mess up, it’s okay to be immature, and it’s okay to be however you want to be because it’s what makes it all part of the overall “I love College” experience. It’s something you look back on and wouldn’t want to change even if your life depended on it.  Sure, there are times when I’m like, “If only I didn’t go out so much my Freshman year…my GPA would have been better, and I could have gotten the job I wanted or gotten into the school I’m applying to.” It’s better to not even think about “if I didn’t do this or that” because making those mistakes in college is what helps you become wiser and learn to never repeat those same mistakes again. College is over and now we are stepping into the real adult world, but with each and every path we take, we take that “I love college” experience with us. Let’s take a look at how everything changed from my freshman year to my senior year.

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Freshman year:

“OMG…I’m late for class!”

Senior year:

ZzZzzZz…*snore*

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Freshman year:

“I need to get an A on this midterm!”

Senior year:

“I need to get a job!”

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Freshman Year:

“I want to be a….”

Senior Year:

“I don’t know what I’m doing with my life!”

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Freshman Year:

“I need to make friends!”

Senior Year:

“I hope I don’t bump into anyone I know.”

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Freshman Year:

“Oh yes party! I need a fake ID!”

Senior Year:

“I’m over it.”

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Freshman Year:

“I need to use all my meal swipes.”

Senior Year:

“I’ll just have a Freshie swipe me in.”

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Freshman Year:

“I got into the bar using my fake ID…I’m a boss”

Senior Year:

“18 and up tonight? No.”

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Freshman Year:

“I just met this girl/guy…I’m going to add her on Facebook immediately!”

Senior Year:

“Find me on Linkedin.”

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Freshman Year:

“Dress to impress…I’m going to find someone perfect for me.”

Senior Year:

“You know what’s better than finding someone? Everything.”

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Freshman Year:

“Look good, feel good, do good….owning this midterm!”

Senior Year:

“I guess I’ll be wearing these pair of sweats for the third day in a row…oh well.”

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Freshman Year:

“Midterms are this week…but YOLO!”

Senior Year:

“Let’s stay in tonight…maybe play some video games, order pizza, and watch the game?”

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Freshman Year:

“I am such a grown up!”

Senior Year:

“I don’t want to be a grownup!”

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And the one thing you had in common Freshman Year all the way through Senior Year, is that you made it through the best four years of your life.

 

My Imperfect Perspective: HELLO 2015!

02 Friday Jan 2015

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GOODBYE 2014. HELLO 2015!

I have never made any New Year’s resolutions before this year. If I feel like I need to change to become a better person or do something to improve myself, I wouldn’t wait for a specific day of the year. Instead, I just try to spend everyday trying to make myself better than I was the day before. This is my resolution every single morning.

I decided to actually start blogging today, and coincidentally, it happened to be on the first day of a new year – January 1, 2015.

Every morning, I remind myself that I have the power to make myself happy or unhappy. I can choose which it will be. Yesterday is dead; tomorrow hasn’t even arrived yet. I have just one day, which is today, and I’m going to be happy in it.

Ironically, this was the first year I decided to make a New Year’s resolution, however it didn’t pertain to what I need to do to improve myself. It more so pertained to others (the homeless) and what I can gain from them. My New Year’s resolution was to go out and ask homeless people about their New Year’s resolutions.

People ask me all the time why I devote so much of my time towards the homeless. It’s sad – we often hear and read people making comments about the homeless as if they’re another species. Every so often, there’s an assumption that a homeless person is a criminal/drug addict or that they deserve to be homeless because they are too lazy to work. No one ever stops to look at it from a different perspective.

I’m not going to tell you what to think or try to subvert whatever judgments you may have. The only thing that I do ask is to actually have the intellectual courage to re-examine the things you believe or to actually look at things from a different perspective. Have the backbone to re-think homelessness…or to re-think any situation for that matter.

Last year in particular, I had witnessed many homeless people among the streets. Whenever I stumble across a homeless person, a part of me feels uncomfortable and the other part of me feels empathic. When I think about homelessness- the thoughts of fear, abandonment, loneliness, and escape are what come to mind. It may be due to personal, emotional, or physical struggles, but generally there is always a reason we feel homeless.

homeless1

Granted, I am not homeless because I have an actual home, but at times, we have all felt homeless, or better yet – frightened, lonely, and unprotected. There is some sort of connection there, even if it isn’t distinct. I guess my heart feels connected to them in some sort of way, which is part of the reason I decided to collaborate on the #HELLO2015 project with my cousin, Rima Amin. As you’d expect, a lot of homeless people have New Year’s resolutions of finding a home, but what we wanted to capture from this video was that there are a lot of other things that homeless people want to go out and achieve, just like us. We made it our New Year’s resolution to make their New Year’s resolutions known and give others and ourselves a different perspective outside of our own.

One can become homeless in a blink of an eye, but what I find the most fascinating are homeless people who are actually optimistic and see a way out of their homelessness.

Whilst working on our project, we ran across many homeless people. There were quite a few that touched me.  There was a little bubbly and charismatic girl. We had given her cookies that we had baked, and that simple gesture made her so happy despite the fact that she didn’t have a home. It’s the simple things that should make us happy. We should be grateful for what we have (life) regardless of our current situation.

Another man by the name of Stanley really touched my heart. In this short clip of our project below, Stanley delivers his message to the world.

 

It is granted that I wasn’t able to provide a home for these people, but I was able to gain perspective from them. This is the vision I have for my blog: imperfect perspective. We all have different points of view, but imperfection is perfection to a beautiful perspective.

Check out our #HELLO2015 New Year’s Resolution project below.

 

Check out Stanley’s special shout-out to his family below.

 

Because the homeless read too…Check out the clip below.