Nothing would be the same if you didn't exist

By Rich Smith, 02-06-2019

Every Sunday my iPhone tells me how much screen time I had for the past week. iPhone only. My iPad, Macbook, and Work PC don't count. Last week I averaged 3 hours and 18 minutes a day on my phone...most of it on social media channels and messenger. That's pretty average for me actually. One week I almost hit 4 hours a day. That's a lot of time. No wonder my wife is always telling me to put my phone down!

It was during one of these hours last week that I read something that's stuck with me. I've thought about it a lot since then. It was a very simple phrase:

Nothing would be the same if you didn't exist.

Let that sink in. It's so very simple, yet so profound. This is especially true in healthcare. Our industry has given so many of you the opportunity to enrich your lives while at the same time positively affecting the lives of so many. People all across the country that you wouldn't have met otherwise. Nurses save lives every day. You comfort people during difficult times. That impact cannot be minimized or compartmentalized. It's real. It happens every day. And we don't talk about it enough.

Nothing would be the same if you didn't exist.

Sometimes that's hard to see. I totally get it. The world is a cold, lonely place at times. I see some of the worst in people on the internet. The bullying. They keyboard courage. I've seen nurses do it to other nurses. It's joked about...that nurses eat their young. It's hard to watch, like hazing. The question is, how do we respond to it? Is this kind of behavior ok? Should we just accept it and allow it to happen? Is it ok to be ugly and mean if everyone else is doing it?

The answer is no. The answer is nothing would be the same if you didn't exist. Text that to someone today, see what happens. Or say that to a friend on Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat.