Hospital Wisdom

 I’d like to impart some hospital wisdom.

I have a sheet of paper from one of my hospital says. It’s just a bunch of bullet points and sentences, but I’ve always liked the sentiment of its advice. This list is meant to help you take yourself less seriously, see past the negative experiences, and preserver. No doubt it is aimed at people who think that life is no longer living. 

We got the handouts in the activity room, which was small common area where we ate our meals and had group therapy. There was a tv. You could go on there to color or do word searches, especially if you didn’t want to be in your room (I took advantage of leftover breakfast coffee). Most people stayed in their rooms to sleep.

I keep this handout stashed in a recovery workbook called Living With Your Higher Power (it’s an AA thing), with other rehab and hospital papers I’ve decided to keep for some reason or other. It’s just a small stack now; I used to have a collection of folders from my inpatient stays (as if that would ever be something to be proud of or to hoard. Ive burned most of it).

Below is the list. I don’t know who wrote it or how it was compiled.

Even if you feel bad for making a mistake, you can forgive yourself.

Acceptance is nice but never absolutely necessary. You can accept and value yourself even if others don’t.

You are fully human. You have every right not to be perfect; even of others think you have to be mistake free…don’t believe them. 

The past has an influence over you, but does not make you do anything. You are in control of today and tomorrow. 

Don’t let your past dictate who you are but let it be a part of who you will become.

You can be your own best friend. No one else has the power to control how you feel…unless you let them.

Your successes do not make you worthwhile and your failures do not make you worthless. You are not your actions. 

We do not run the universe, therefore we cannot get what we want just by demanding it. 

You can make it without love. Few people like it, but we all can stand it.

The world is not a good or bad place. It is a place where things happen and people decide if these things are good or bad.

People have the 1st amendment right to say what they want. You have a right to ignore them.

Other people cannot push your buttons unless you push them yourself. Events cannot make you angry.

Happiness is rarely achieved by simply sitting back and enjoying yourself. It might be better to be involved in creative activities. 

Just because something that  you’re dreading is approaching, you don’t have to be preoccupied with it.