“Take Heart,” “Have a Heart,” “Speaking from the Heart,” “The Heart of the Matter,” “From the Bottom of My Heart…” You get the point. As we recognize February as National Heart Month, much emphasis, and rightly so, is on heart health: exercise, diet, de-stress, and managing your metrics. All very important. Yet in this time in our history, there have been issues with heartstrings, that little twinge that tells us to savor the important moments, celebrate, take a moment, reflect, be positive… and yes, say too many goodbyes.
Why and how is all this relevant in our occupational health world? Our clinics (and I’m thinking yours too) have seen an array of emotions from both staff members and our patients, our client company representatives, and vendors that cause a bit of a whirlwind on any given day. Our responsibilities to our team members, our patients, and our families have left many exhausted one day and resolute the next. We have accomplished so much. Just to be operational is a victory to be cherished.
Combine that with the ongoing COVID-19 precautions, and state and local regulations (and for many of you, those may be different across the different communities you serve), add budget revisions—over and over again as the timeline has been elongated, and for many, add adapting to remote working hybrids and even homeschooling! We are champions!
For your heart health, take a moment to ponder all this. Consider a heartfelt mantra as you march through the days, weeks, and months ahead. I read recently that your mantra can paint the way for you by giving encouragement and direction to your day (I’m going to tackle the top three VIP items on my to-do list every day) or point out a path of despair (I’m never going to get this proposal done). Choose wisely, it’s important.
Lastly, our hearts will grow stronger with a hefty dose of daily appreciation. Appreciate yourself and others. Sharing appreciation can be as simple as confirming a job well done, a thank you, a friendly greeting, or a smile. It’s not a big investment, it will not deplete your bank and, as a matter of fact, will be beneficial to your heart health. As the saying goes, we are all in this together. Share some kindness; it will do your heart good.
