You Can't Un-ring a Bell

Working in the position that I do, I've had to learn a thing or two to survive.  My job has such high visibility and high stakes, there is little room for error.  People's lives....their very fragile, complicated, unbelievable-at-times lives, mind you...depend on me to do the right thing in the right way at the right time, all the time. Because of this, I have to keep relationships vibrant and healthy, I have to walk fine lines, I have to find a way to like people even when I don't at the moment.  It's not always so easy.

Being a public sector employee is an interesting experience.  Don't get me wrong - I love what I do.  I have an opportunity that few have ever had.  I get to help steer the course for an entire system that I am incredibly passionate about.  The most basic things I hold to be true - that we must be good to one another so that we can be good to our patients, that everyone deserves help, that much of the world is deeply hurting and we can change that with our compassion - get to be addressed in part through my actions and my vision.  It is a tremendous privilege.

And yet, and yet.  Being a public sector employee also means every day I have the potential to face very open criticism that comes through in some very vitriolic and irrational ways. I have spent more days feeling misunderstood, defensive, or downright disappointed in the last five years than I had cumulatively in the forty years prior. Strangely, I've become mostly immune to it.  I think it's part of the deal, when you are paid for by taxpayers. Transparency is expected and rightly so. Diplomacy is the high road and the only acceptable path.  It's actually kind of amazing that it only occasionally gets to me.

Given all of this, I've had to fine tune some very specific skills.  Patience. Understanding. Listening. Reading between lines. Stepping in.  Walking away. Giving in. Holding ground. And last, but certainly not least, waiting 24 hours to click "send" to ensure I don't say anything I will later regret. Because as the blog title says, you can't un-ring that bell.  The job has enough problems on its own; heaven knows I don't need to create more for myself.

Every skill I've learned, every opportunity I've had, every mistake I've made and every sucker punch I've taken...I promise you this:  I wouldn't trade it for the world.  What I believe for sure is that I am making my corner of the world a better place.  Knowing that is what keeps my world right, even on days that feel all wrong.