Trusting the Process

We have officially hit our mid semester point. As I think about what I have learned thus far, a lot of my current education seems disjointed. I have gained a solid understanding of human anatomy, kinesiology, conditions of the human body, as well as the history and foundation of OT. Currently, it seems like i’m learning the foundations of OT, but not necessarily seeing how they all connect. We hear snippets in class about patients our professors have worked with, and I can see the hunger in my classes’ eyes to get more hands-on experience. Now, I know what you are thinking. I’m putting the cart before the horse; you are absolutely correct. I want to be going 60 MPH before I can even walk. I realize this, and am working on accepting it. 

During orientation, our academic advisor conveyed that we need to trust the process of the program. Year one is about getting all the baseline information into our brains, while year two and three help us build more practical skills and treatments. As I fester in my own impatient wants, I keep thinking about how OT clients must feel. Whether they are seeing an OT because of an injury that impairs the independence that they are use to, or maybe they are a long-term patient who is working towards a big goal. As a future OT, I’ll need my patients to trust my judgement. I’ll ask them to go on a journey with me that they did not ask to be on. We’ll work together on achieving their goals, but they are going to have to trust that i’ll get them there. The practitioner-client relationship HAS to be symbiotic.

I think my impatience provides a good exercise to put myself in someone else’s shoes. Now, i’m not saying that my desire to get through school equates to the imposition and stress that a patient experiences. No, it’s not on the same level at all. I chose to be on this path, I decided I wanted to go to school for OT. I don’t think any patient would have made an active decision to participate in therapy, or undergo the injury or illness that landed them there. This is an exercise on trust. I am trusting in the education I am receiving, and I also have a personal responsibility to ensure that I learn what I need to learn. This is an exercise to push myself past the point of comfort, to feel really stressed, but know that the end goal will be well worth it. As an avid weight-lifter (Yes, I lift) I consistently lie to myself that the discomfort I endure while lifting a heavy set will all be over soon. That may be true for that set, or that exercise, but the stress that is experienced over the long haul does not end. You do not reach your fitness goals by going to the gym once and expecting immediate results. Gaining muscle is long, exhausting, and never ending. Right when i’m feeling good about one muscle group, I discover that i’ve been neglecting another area in my body. It’s a chronic headache, but also stupidly rewarding. Feeling uncomfortable means i’m doing it right. Discomfort is not a bad thing, and overcoming something that seemed so difficult is the best high you can feel.

I was talking to a friend who is an obsessive rock-climber a few weeks ago. He mentioned how euphoric it was to complete a line that was previously deemed impossible, or out of his reach. This is how humans thrive. We seek, challenge, and overcome our obstacles. We beat life each day we are alive and happy. We each have our own Everest. Mine currently looks like graduate school. Although we complain, stress, and want to quit, we have to persist. Once again, my life coach, and unofficially adopted mother, Amy Poehler, states, “You do it because the doing of it is the thing. The doing is the thing. The talking and worrying and thinking is not the thing.”

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some studying to attend to.