Be ‘For’ Something

I care what happens in our health care system as do many other nurses I work with. My colleagues are asking me what I think about the changes happening in our organization and what it might mean for us on the front lines. As a result of last month’s ’thought’ topic on venting, I am being extra careful not to complain about things. This is a hard thing to do. Shrugging my shoulders and letting things ‘be’ doesn’t always sit well with me.
Then I was reminded of something that I had learned, and applied, when I was president of our local nursing union. I found that if we were ‘for’ something, we could harness the negative energy of the collective and turn it into a positive force of change. So instead of just being against an idea or a plan we would stand for something.
So what if I used the same logic for everyday events? What if I had to come up with an action plan for every concern I was voicing, something I could do?
As I apply this tactic, I am removing myself from certain conversations where it is clear there is nothing that I can do. Even more interesting is that in my conversations when I finish my thoughts with a statement of an action of what I am prepared to do, my response often causes a frequent change of the subject.
What this does, this having a plan of action, is change the focus from other people back to myself. It stops my complaining and whining about others and their actions. It makes me ‘for’ something, not against someone else and their ideas. Being against something or someone is limiting and it feels like I’m giving my power away. I believe in standing up for what I am for and it offers a greater opportunity for options.
Recently I attended a rally against the direction our government is going in regards to health care changes for seniors. I came away wondering if it could have been more powerful to have spoken more about what we were for, instead of what we were against. It seemed like we gave their ideas an awful lot of air time yet had not really stated what we wanted.
Jack Canfield said that Mother Theresa said "I will never attend a anti-war rally but if you have a rally for peace invite me."
I have decided that in my life I am not going to be just against anything anymore. I choose instead to be for ‘something.’
When I stand up for what I am ‘for’ or what I believe, I am left with a positive feeling inside. I am not fighting nor surrounded by the negativity of declaring someone else wrong. I am in fact allowing their point of view to sit out there along with mine in a positive way.
Trying to pressure the way other people think leads to defensiveness and a lack of creativity. I agree with Professor J W. Gardner, author of Self-Renewal: the individual and the innovative society, when he stated that we bring either a new vitality to our ideals or they wither and die. He says that vitality comes when we have a willingness to be creative and look at things from all perspectives, having a flexibility to accept what is and then explore and move forward from there.
In these uncertain times, knowing what I am ‘for’ means that I can roll with the changes others create in my environment. My foundation is solid as things shift around me. I can take comfort that I will be okay because I know what I believe in. I know what I am passionate about. I know what I am prepared to do. I know what I stand ‘for.’