I can jump {yay me!}

In my scrubs. Ready to save the world one tooth at a time :)

I feel like I work so hard just to get the approval of my instructors
They are great women. Smart and confident. Helpful and skilled at what they do.
but everyday is a battle to impress them, to show them that I have progressed

I feel like some days they focus on the negative
which is understandable since we are there to learn and my instructors are there to facilitate that learning,
but day after day of hearing what you need to improve, and not hearing what you're actually doing well at can be very draining.

Yesterday one of my instructors came to watch me scale my patient's teeth for a kind of competency exam for this semester
I was happy {of course} when she told me I passed and that I did very well. Then she told me the things that she thought needed some improvement.
I walked away feeling happy that I was able to do well on the exam
My instructor came up to me a little while later and said, "I got so caught up in telling you what you needed to improve, I didn't tell you what you did really well!"
She proceeded to tell me all of the things that I did well in detail.

I felt more than just happy that I had gained her approval at the job that I had done, but it made me feel good to have someone finally tell me the GOOD things that I can do rather than only focus on the things that need improvement.

It made me think about how often in the day I am hard on myself because I'm not perfect
I focus so much on the things I need to improve, rather than focusing on all the positive things about my life, and all the good things about myself.

this picture is gross, but funny, so I heart it

I had a patient come in the other day who had a prosthetic leg from the knee down. She said that she had gone in to have knee replacement surgery and, due to the mistake of her doctor, had to have her leg amputated as well.
She is so depressed. She is only in her early 60's and is healthy. She was excited to get her knee replaced so she could play golf, but now she can't even walk.

It made me think about how ungrateful I can be for my healthy body. Grateful that I can run, walk, sit Indian style, stand, dance, JUMP, kick and all the other things my legs can do.

So this week I have been more grateful. Grateful for the things that I have, and for the things that I can do well.
So here's to loving life and focusing on the positive things :)

...like how rad this picture is, because I took it :)

Loves,
Kristin