Archbishop Desmond Tutu with
Christiane Northrup, MD
Ira Byock, MD
Rachel Naomi Remen, MD
Angeles Arrien, PhD
Joan Borysenko, PhD
Appreciation Montage

Enjoy your calling while being kind with yourself.



Enjoying one's calling corresponds with appreciating one's self and others.

If and when you are overwhelmed or fatigued, or feeling your heart removed from the work, 'enjoying your calling' may seem like an oxymoron.

Considering the stressful conditions deemed normal in many healthcare settings,
it is no wonder so many nurses, physicians, and other professionals are leaving the field, or are contemplating an exit.

Unless there is enjoyment of the work on some level, the system itself cannot survive.

This is true for any work that preoccupies our lives, but particularly one which is based on human interaction at its core.

To dismiss the notion of self-compassion as sentimental or 'touchy feely' may be an indication of how life-denying the work itself can become.

When helping others culminates over time in a sense of exhaustion and a barrenness of spirit, 'compassion fatigue', this can be experienced as a call to refill.

Self-caring can help regenerate the energy to serve others.

A genuine compassion for others naturally emerges from a rested place inside.

What are ways which you practice being kind to yourself?

How do you express the enjoyment of your calling?