Stepping Out… of Your Comfort Zone

In the course of our lives, we all find ourselves in situations that I will describe as outside of our comfort zone. Things that if we weren't required to do it, or love the person who asked us, or felt like we "had" to do it, we would never other wise do. For me, that was last weekend. The Friends (formerly known as the Auxiliary) asked me to help them with their fundraiser. I said yes and then they told me it was to 'dance' in a ‘Dancing with the Stars' contest. I still have never seen the show but you guys get the drift - beautiful women dancing with men who can dance and then getting voted on.

To set the picture for you - my friends call me 'Grace' not because I am graceful but because once a year I take a nose dive when I am out for a run at 5 am and end up bloodied and battered - which is really attractive. So when I realized I was going to 'dance' in front of an audience - I was looking for the door. But, I had made a promise and I was going to figure it out.

So I go to Joanie Roop, an amateur dancer, RN Education Dept, who has won competitions and hooks me up with a dance instructor who will do this with me. After 19 lessons in just 8 weeks, I am dancing in front of 200 people. My goal - don't throw up and don't fall. I hit my goal, but I tied for third place out of four.

The process reminded me of how many things we ask our kids and families to do on a daily basis. On the inpatient unit, their pain is palpable and we are asking them to walk and talk in excruciating pain. In outpatient, we are trying to get them to keep coming when the continued progress is not always apparent but has to be built over months, not days. In LTC, parents give their children to us...virtually turning them over to us and leaving. These are incredibly difficult things - much more difficult than dancing and we all take it for granted. Just like the people who watched me dance. It was terrible for me. Not fun, just torture. Am I glad I didn't embarrass myself? Yes. Was I proud of what I did? Not really. I just got through it. I could never 'embrace' it because I was so uncomfortable. How many of our kids face the same challenge? Or their parents not being able to accept and love their 'dancer' in the way they want to?

It was humbling and in some ways defeating that I couldn't get out of my own way. But you know what - I did it. The Friends raised money and everyone who loves me was there by my side, cheering me on. That was the gift. Not the gift of dance, but the gift of love from friends and family and most of all, humility.

So, I shared mine - I am human. Sometimes, being human isn't enough - but it is all I could give and the next day - the sun still came up.

I’d like to think by sharing my story, I’ve helped others think about how they approach their own personal or professional challenges.

Would you like to share about being in situations that are outside of your comfort zone and how you overcame it?

Cultural Change

Last week I had a chance to spend a week with people from all different countries, and industries, for a course on managing change. While the framework of the basics was the same as we all know – I did learn you have to have a specific vision about where you want to take your company and do a thorough implementation plan and then check the execution. Implementing a change in the operations of the organization and implementing cultural change is tremendously different. I am preparing to share my conference experience in a clinical rounds presentation soon but this experience made me think about each of you and how you have managed a "cultural" change in your life.

In our personal lives, “cultural change” would be something that is a permanent immersion or approach to a different way of life. For example, a “culture change” could include becoming a vegetarian, or adopting a new healthy lifestyle or maybe moving to a new part of the country. Of course having children and getting married mark changes as well.

If I had to name just one cultural change in my personal life, I would say it was adjusting to being divorced. It wasn’t just not being married anymore, it was really learning how to be comfortable in my own "skin." That means being alone and not just filling time, but really learn to be thankful for the time I had alone and finding ways to embrace the change. Like most things in our lives, I was resistant at first and gradually began accepting this new way to live - not just a way of life - but a way to live. So as always, I am interested in what cultural change you have made in your life and how you adopted it.

You can be anonymous! I truly believe sharing some of your personal experiences or best practices are helpful for your friends and colleagues and they may certainly apply at work too.