The Pep Rallies

Today was Day #2 of the St. Fozzie's pep rally. Actually, it was more of a big tent revival. We hired a motivational speaker, set up a big top tent, passed out popcorn, and fired up the troops. Our patient satisfaction scores have gone through the roof, spirits are high, and we wanted to draw a line in the sand to make sure everyone realized that this was a cultural change, not just a flavor of the week. Most things were donated, so we didn't cause much ruckus to our rocky bottom line.

I slept about 3 hours last night because I had to be on campus at 6 a.m. for the preparations. It was okay, as Dietary brought out a huge carafe of strong, trucker brew coffee. I moved from exhausted and zombie-ish to completely giddy.

The first three rally sessions were Monday. The last three sessions were today. It rained both days! It was great, though, and everyone collectively teared up when they played the "Together We Can Save St. Fozzie's" song we filmed on campus. The speaker was great and had a few poignant points to share. Also, hearing the same speech six times will hardwire a few things into your skull.

One of my favorite take-aways revolves around becoming human beings. Sounds so easy, right? The speaker advised the rally participants to not become human doings. Human doings define themselves by what they do, their jobs, parenthood etc. Their identity is so tied up in their jobs that when those jobs go away, they have no sense of identity left. He re-emphasized the fact that we should be human BEINGS and live life outside of our primary responsibilities.

I looked up from my Blackberry, startled. I had to frenetically email about 38 people and I couldn't stand to lose those few hours of work time. It was so ridiculous...I was on the pep rally committee and helped get everything set up for the events. Once the speaker started, I would gravitate to toward the back of the tent, break out my notepad and Blackberry and get to work. I actually wrote one of the grant cover letters this morning during the first session.

His message wasn't lost on me, though. I was did my back-of-the-tent working thing during the noon session, but didn't take any books or phones with me during the final session. I sat there and listened. I realized that my friends and family members are right: life isn't just about work. I'm more than an administrator-in-training. I'm more than a young woman who feels she must work three times as hard as everyone else to get noticed and make a true difference. Naaaah, I'm also a wife, a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a friend and neighbor.

Then it dawned on me that THAT's the balance I'm lacking in my life. I can work all I want but I cannot forget that I am not identified or defined by my career choice. It was strangely freeing.