The world is full of willing people, some willing to work, the rest willing to let them. Robert Frost 

Being back at work since our short break away, when I found that quote I had to laugh! It is always a joke among various groups regarding workers and non-workers. Some people who are out of work want to work and cannot ,that is a harsh reality, I know that from first hand experience, but it is always going to be a continual reflection of society. But aside from that, today, realising that it is Sunday and tomorrow is the beginning of another working week…I have realised that it has been a couple of weeks since my last blog. I guess that is what happens when you turn to the world of working reality … and life takes hold of you and grabs you around the neck or whatever body part you like and says…“Here I am … reality is here … now go back to work!”

And yes, it did!

Oh yes, it was hard waking up on the first day after our return from our short fourteen days away in a completely different world … a world where we enjoyed the calmness of life, the lack of watching a clock, not having to check into the internet or emails unless we both really wanted to … But reality did greet us and the busyness of life propelled us both forward.

Due to our time away, the demanding timetable and the multiple requests for my husband’s time, ‘now he was back‘ was at times extremely hard to take. From our holiday and time out together, from our own private world of solitude and closeness, we both walked into a world immersed in demands, necessities and requirements of other people. I guess we both knew it would happen but even so, hard to accept.

However, the staff were so wonderful when we returned and we felt genuinely missed and their sincerity in our return was so emotive. It was such a pleasure to indeed regale them with the stories of our short travels and to hear the laughter expressed as we talked about crocodiles and our own private swimming plunge pool; of the photo of the naked aged so called mermaid on the rock; to show them the picture books once completed of all the beautiful photos that we took of wetlands, sunsets, scenery and of course those fearful crocodiles and my feelings towards these, in my opinion, not so God given creatures!

But life returned in full as computer screens switched on, the phone rang (and rang and rang, and rang) doctors’ rooms door closed in privacy, sequential after hours night meetings and hospital on call demands. Life trooped on as I walked into my manager’s office area each day to excavate through the mountain of paper work and mail placed on my desk just waiting for me to execute decisions.  Oh yes, reality had definitely returned! The rush of reality and the realism of life was necessary as that is what our lives enfold.

Yes, the last few weeks have been extremely busy with meetings and day to day busyness.
Yes life has been so full of other people’s needs and other people’s desires and requests.
Yes, time restraints, the shrill tones of the alarm clock, the hands ticking around that analogue clock face, the internet, the emails, the regulated agenda all kept us in check as we went on our individual and joint life’s daily expeditions!

Busyness can be problem because we frame it as something that is broken in our lives and causing us stress. Many of us live lives filled with tedium, responsibilities, and unpleasant chores. We spend so much of our mental energy just getting through each day that it’s easy to forget that our time on earth is finite, that each moment we fritter away is a moment we will never get back.

But you know I believe that is not quite right.

It is busy, it can cause us stress, but in that sequencing of reality and entering that corridor of busyness, there were and are still many times for me of immense enjoyment. It isn’t about just frittering away the time…at work or at play. It is learning in using that time at work or at home effectively.

Like my children and grandchildren coming down for the first weekend after we got home to spend quality time with us! It was so great to interact again with them in person and to be seated around the dining table with sharing of stories and laughter.
Like that very early morning cup of coffee with a girlfriend, rugged up in coat and scarf, before I actually commence the working world.
Like that Monday afternoon cup of peppermint tea /chai latte for 30 minutes when I finished my front desk face to face hours, to dash off down the road for a quick converse, share and laugh with another distinctive friend is significant. I also have one extremely close friend whom I love dearly and is so like a sister to me. To catch up with her, even in only brief snatched occasions in between her world and mine helped my reflection that yes, time shared is to say that it is great to be home again!

And importantly, I have remembered that even though we differentiate home life and work as two separate entities and their perception as separate views of enjoyment and reality, that although we were back at work and filled with responsibilities, it was a profound gratifying place to be!

I so enjoy my work, I so enjoy my staff, I so enjoy the interactions with the patients. I so enjoy the interactions with my husband when he visits my back office to sneak that kiss (don’t tell the patients) or to give me a quick cuddle as we work through our individual days! Earlier aspects of some of my previous employment management interactions had not been enjoyable … but here, I thoroughly enjoy all aspects of my management role!

Like the laughter I share with my staff, my co- workers, my team.
Like the laughter we evoke with our staff when they enter my office to find my husband tucking in his shirt and tightening his belt … (no we weren’t doing anything … he was fixing up his attire in private …) but we certainly played along and made it worth their while in their laughter …to hear their laughter as they walked back down the corridor was priceless!
Like the sharing with the people we meet, one as a doctor, the other as the manager, but to really share and interact with these people not just because it is a job, but because we want to!

I guess for me it is significant to remember that while we were away on our break, and to admit it was incredible, rewarding both personally in health revival and marriage wise,  that also in my busyness to continue in enjoying my life – to be happy. To reach out eagerly to live it, to taste experience without fear, for newer and richer experiences, all experiences whatever they are…to the utmost.

To try not to take things for granted!
To know how to appreciate the good in life, and how to enjoy it whatever…come what may!

The question is how to prioritise what you do on a particular day, the speed at which you do particular tasks and how much you can realistically handle in your time. Once you understand that, you will never be busy again. So, think positively about your work. Dwell on the aspects of your work you like. Avoid negative people and gossip. Find co-workers you like and enjoy and spend your time with them. Your choices at work largely define your experience. Because you can choose to be happy at work!

Take charge of your own growth; ask for specific and meaningful help from your boss, your manager, your co-workers,  but remember to also march to the music of your personally developed plan and goals. You have the most to gain from growing – and the most to lose, if you stand still.

That’s what I try to do anyway!