Running Out of Kindness

I've been working as a nurse for just over a year now. I've met lots of people with every single personality you could ever imagine. Some of them I love with all my heart. Some of them make me laugh. Some of them make me cry. And some of them make me want to pull my hair out. 

I've been cussed at, spit on, scratched and kicked. I've been yelled at, talked down to and threatened all with a smile on my face. But it seems that every time I have a patient who tries their best to tear me down, God put's another patient in my group who lifts me up. I become emotionally attached to all of my patients,especially the sweet ones and yes, even the ones who are the most hateful. I can assure you that nursing is a draining career. I hate to admit it but there are patients who I've wanted yell back at or even strangle them when the frustration builds. And of course I would never do either of these things but it does take a certain amount of strength to smile, say "yes ma'am" or "yes, sir" and then continue to bend over backwards to get them whatever snacks they want, pick up their trash and give them their pain medications the minute they are due. 

But as always, God provides. God gives me a sweet little patient across the hall who says please and thank you with a kind smile on their face. They are a refuge for my struggling soul on a difficult day. There is no way around having difficult patients who push me to my whits end. And yes, I will treat them the same as any other patient. But sometimes when a single patient steals every ounce of kindness I have left, I am replenished by the kindness found in my other patients. 

So, after just having "one of those days" where I was pushed to my limit and stretched as thin as I could be, I am thankful that God takes care of me in the subtlest of ways and replenishes my kindness through others.

Love and Happiness,

Bethany