Calling, Not a Job

Healthcare, I believe, is a calling not just a job.

As I recently wrapped up my degree, I've had many people ask me where do you go from here? My answer is that I'm not sure, but I'm just getting started and having fun with what I'm doing in healthcare IT. My purpose, or calling in life, as I found around 17 years ago, is to try to make other's lives better. Whether in my role at work, church, family, or wherever.

Nothing energizes me more than helping people. When I see people, and sometimes even peers, talking about retirement, I congratulate them, but internally, I can't image it "yet". Yes, sometimes the days are long, as I worked from 7 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. yesterday alone, and yes, it is stressful quite often, but when the "work" is helping patients, families, doctors, and employees, those long days are so worth it.

It is so easy for me to be overwhelmed, burned out, and fatigued when I take my eye off that purpose. Helping staff, clinicians, physicians, and downstream, even the patients, fuels me and gets me out of bed each morning. I hope I can help these people, making their lives better in some way.

Working in the hospitals most days, sharing elevators with patients, walking by the waiting rooms full of grandkids, and praying for grandma or grandpa to get better honestly reminds me of why we are doing this.

Being on the tail end of Gen X, I've seen both sides of the world: the pre-tech days with no phones and the post-tech days of the world at your fingertips, and I know the future as a fantastic opportunity, technically. If we continue to harness technology, whether AI, automation, or mobility, using it as a tool to help make lives better, lives will be enhanced and, I believe, saved because of it, whether that is our own life, our employee's life, the clinicians and physicians lives, at the front lines, and the patients. It will be a game-changer.

I've seen patients with ALS who used to have to drive five hours for a hospital visit but, through technology, can see their physician from home, saving hours of their lives. Or a family with health-related challenges, where scans have found things early, helping with faster recoveries.

So when people tell me, "I wouldn't want your "job" for a million dollars," I have to reflect and remind myself that it is so much more than a job.

Finally, as I wrap up, I read this book called "Calling - Awaken to the Purpose of Your Work," by Pierce Brantley , which I highly recommend, as it reminded me of many of these things. To be transparent, it does have a Christian perspective, with God's calling for your life and in your work, but anyone can have this purpose, this fuel that drives them to go through the day-to-day for a larger purpose than yourself. I hope you find it in your life. It can make a world of difference.

Life can be chaotic, constantly changing, and full of unknowns, but we can also tame the chaos and guide it into the future.

#calling #purpose #helpothers