1– Drop the Drama

Wherever you are - the clinic, OR, call room, or at home, and especially if you feel totally justified and clearly in the right, the first step to being okay is dropping the drama. You know you are in drama when you are resisting reality and wanting circumstances or people to be different. There are 3 roles in the drama triangle: the victim, villain, and hero. When our office manager double books us without checking with us first, when SPD loses one of our instruments, when the anesthesiologist or CRNA seems to be moving at the pace of molasses, when the ER wakes us up for something stupid, we are going to want to identify as a victim and start handing out villain cards. Maybe you vilify the whole system. The problem with identifying as a victim and assigning villain to people, circumstances or systems is that it disempowers us. We give our power away when we point our finger and say “YOU. You did this.” Instead of identifying as a victim and waiting for an outside force to swoop in and hero us, we can instead decide to become a creator and see the “villains” in our life as challengers. Challengers show us what we value. Maybe you didn’t realize you hated being double-booked, and now that your office manager double-booked you and brought that to your attention, you can thank her and let her know you won’t be allowing double bookings anymore. Instead of spinning in drama, assigning blame and feeling powerless, when you drop the drama and ask your brain, “What can I create from this?”, you open up a world of possibilities.

**2– Get back in your Business**

According to spiritual teacher, Byron Katie, the world is made up of 3 businesses: our business, other people’s business, and the universe’s business. We only have agency in our own business. When you get back in your business, you ask yourself, “Where do I have control?”. Instead of waiting on other people to change or waiting for circumstances to finally cooperate with you, you let everyone and everything just be what they are. This should feel like non-resistance, like a lightening of the load. To be clear, this doesn’t mean you sit back and let SPD keep messing up your sets or let your clinic staff walk all over you. You can take action to effect change without adding your own drama. You don’t need to feel indignation and frustration to effect change.

3– Remember your WHY

You entered this profession for a reason, to have a positive impact. Remember your why: the reason you put yourself through decades of training. Ground into that when everything feels hard.