Saturday, June 07, 2008

 Stepping out of my comfort zone

So this has been a pretty cool last few weeks. After much anticipation, I began my first gig as a traveller. And I have to say, this probably was not the best gig for a first timer, but I am SO glad I did it.

Instead of being part of a department, I was the department. The usual tech was going on vacation and I was covering for him. Basically, I had no backup. The equipment I was using was also something I had not touched since 2003, and it wasn't something I was strong on back then. I was scared to take the gig, but I knew that I had to. I also tried to convince myself that I could handle it.

And guess what? I did :) Things were not 100% perfect, but they went very well. I even had a patient bake me cookies because I treated her so well! The rest of the radiology department was very open and welcoming to me, and very supportive. In fact- everyone in the hospital was great. It is a very small hospital, and I guess that makes everyone feel like family. It was nice.

So now after this experience, I believe I can handle just about anything. I think that this short 2 weeker gig prepared me for anything else better than any long one could have. I feel optimistic and empowered. Yay me!!

The hardest part was leaving my boys for these 2 weeks. I know how much I love them and enjoy being around them, but I did not realize how lonely I would be without them. I would leave in the morning and want to say goodbye to someone or come home to say "hi, I'm home!" and there was nobody here to say it to. :( Well, except for Oatmeal, the travelling bear. But since his mouth is sewn shut, he isn't the best conversationalist...

But I still was ok on my own. I did hang out a bit with another resident of the hotel, and that was definitely fun, and quite a surprise. He's gone now though so it's back to conversations with a teddy bear. He's going to be in Carolina in a week or so, we talked about getting together there, and that would definitely be great, but if it doesn't happen, I'm ok with that too. I guess I'm in a "hope for the best, expect the worst" frame of mind on that. Either way, again, I stepped out of my comfort zone there, and came out smiling.

Taking risks and coming out stronger or smiling because of them is a good thing. Life, is a good thing...

Posted by Acinom @ 7:18 PM