Intent and Impact

I love it when sometimes a series of events leads to revelation. Suddenly seeing something in a new light or looking at things from a fresh perspective can be very jarring. I had just an "A-Ha" moment this week.

It had been a typically busy day. I went from patient to patient, evaluating problems, addressing issues, returning pages, and dealing with employee crises in between. On this day though a pattern would quickly emerge.

"I won't move to another office." I have been here long enough to not have to change."
"Doc, I changed my meds because what you told me to do wasn't working."
"I can't believe you forgot."

Everyone had issues of hurt feelings, frustration and misunderstanding. I couldn't quite wrap my brain around it. Was it a full moon? Was everyone on staff suffering from PMS? Then I attended a meeting that afternoon. Dr Scheff was leading a discussion where we were basically trying to solve the uninsured patient "problem" in our community. At one point he stated, "It is about a balance of intent and impact."

"A-Ha." That is really where we all are, isn't it? A patient intended to get her blood sugars lower, but the impact of her actions resulted in a fainting spell from hypoglycemia. A staffer intended to make more room for additional employees by rearranging assigned work spaces of current staff. The impact was confusion and frustration by others, perceiving they were not appreciated enough to keep their desk assignments. I worked really hard to plan a good birthday celebration for my husband. In doing so, I didn't get to the bakery in time to pick up his cake. The impact - He was disappointed that this special detail was forgotten.

The list could go on endlessly for pages as this scenario applies to every human, every day. Don't get me wrong. Our intentions can lead to actions that lead to good results, too. However it is the unintended consequences of our actions that can trip us up. The contented person, I believe, has learned to find some balance between intent and impact. Wouldn't we and our relationships be improved if we lived with this principle a little more consciously? I think, for myself, I am going to try to do better.

The View....

The view from my back porch chair is always peaceful, calm. It is slow with the full space of time to examine a single breath, hear crickets, smell the fragrance of flowers, watch the dogs play. Not always what we get in the modern world. In fact, the stark contrast has often left me dumbstruck. We are bombarded by images, facts, failures, accusations, disappointments, spin, taxes, global warming, the next hurricane, the next epidemic, the next massacre on the other side of the planet. NOISE, NOISE, NOISE! It can combine into one wicked headache. It really doesn't even make sense the majority of the time.

You need a place, a safe spot, where the assault will stop and repair work can begin. Or at least where you can sort it out enough to face the next day's challenges. That is my back porch chair. I have been considering starting a blog for a long time to have a place to publish these contemplations. Maybe someone else out there is thinking the same. Or maybe just needs to realize that we are all just trying to figure it out as we go. Therefore, I am timidly sticking my toe into the water of the blog world. Consider this my primal yelp into the technological darkness. From here it could be a very bumpy ride and who knows what we will discover next.