A quiet place
A happy life must be to a great extent a quiet life, for it is only in an atmosphere of quiet that true joy can live.
One of my favorite things to do while on night duty is to leave the comfort of the ward behind and wander around the hospital environment. For normal folks, it’s not exactly wandering because I am always security conscious and only move around my unit’s building. It is wandering to me because it is something different from the routine.
So here I was feeling grateful for the moon and the stars and taking mother nature in, one breath at a time. Aside from the occasional honking from the main road across the hospital, everywhere was quiet. It was difficult to imagine a child inside the children’s ward was unconscious and fighting for their life with how serene the outside felt.
This is why I enjoy staying outside after the night rounds of drug administration and nurse care. It reminds me that there is a different world outside. The 30 minutes spent moving from one side of the building to another is therapy for me.
During today’s therapy section, I counted my blessings and what I was grateful for. My face, height, heart, job, businesses, etc. At that point, comparison felt like a taboo. It is.
I had just completed the last chapter of Robert Iger’s book ‘The Ride of a Lifetime’ before the night round of drug administration. While I was having my form of therapy, I couldn’t help but visualize myself buying all the publishing houses I was reaching out to, to pitch Nkem Creatives. I imagine acquiring one big corporation after another just like Disney did with Marvel, Pixer, Fox, etc.
Somehow, there was this newfound courage. This sense of nothing in this world could stop me. It felt good. It felt wholesome and I was at peace. At peace with the world, myself, and where I was.
For this quiet place, I am grateful. The ability to use my limbs and organs is a miracle. You won’t understand until you walk into the emergency ward of a pediatric unit and see children with diseases like Kidney Failure, Cancer, and Heart Malformations. Even in their suffering, you can still tell they find joy in the little things, like food.
While bedside is not for me, it has given me a sense of purpose; to make so much money that access to healthcare will be made affordable if not free for children.
What are you grateful for today?
