As you know, my car was stolen last week. Yep, STOLEN. I come from a really small town where the worst thing that ever happened to our home was when my purple bike was stolen as a kid. My neighbors saw someone take my bike off the porch, yes I know - they actually took the time to call the police. The police actually searched for my bike for weeks and found it abandoned in the woods and rightfully returned it to me expressing how sorry they were for the inconvenience. Now, fast forward to where my car was stolen, the police didn't even make a case or assign an officer and I feel extremely defeated and hopeless. Times have changed, and as my dad loves to tell me "that's what happens in big cities sweetie". Mind you, I live in Winston Salem, North Carolina..... our versions of "big" cities are quite different.
Okay, okay, back to the main point - my school notebook was in the car, which is pretty important. I have clinical rotations at major hospitals in the area and my clinical information was in the notebook. My fiancé was appalled at the fact I was so upset about my notebook, more so than my car. The truth is, my car being stolen with my notebook in it, violated every HIPPA rule ever made. No names, no birth dates, and no social numbers were involved, but there were "important" numbers. After telling my superiors I felt even more hopeless. My superior at the hospital called the school and had a few "choice words" shall we say. The clinical program's rotational schedule and the way we create our clinical identities was now in jeopardy. Hooray for me!!! I just single-handedly rattled the cage of a seven year old program that I just entered this year.
I can't figure out if I want to scream absurdities (most likely not my style) or cry and hibernate until March 29th. That's right, ignore the world until I step out to walk down the aisle. But I can't. We can't hibernate because we are not created to hibernate, we would simply waste away into nothingness, and we are not called to be nothing, we are called to be great, to be leaders, to be care givers, to be lovers. So, valuable lesson that I still haven't learned - we cannot allow things that we do not control, control us.
So, I challenge you this week that no matter big or small do NOT allow the things you cannot control, control you. I'll be working hard to do the same - and I'll let you know how that goes next week... but for now - I hear you all saying "CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!"
