Last week was a busy week with regular duties sparring with precepting new nurses. In the midst of it all I was overhead paged and told to report to an urgent meeting with my boss. Needless to say THAT was anxiety provoking. When I arrived there was a group of administrators present and before I could fully contemplate what exactly I could have done (wrong) to come to their notice, I was presented with the Palmetto Award, our alliance wide award in recognition for positive attitude.

The award is presented to recipients by the former recipient. I received it from the manager of supply whose 25 year old daughter I cared for five years ago. Needless to say we both cried as she spoke of how that had affected her and how I eased some of her passing. I write of the intimacy of my profession. This is one such time.

The trophy is three feet tall, a huge brass stylized palmetto on a walnut base. It bears the following quote:

ATTITUDE

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past � We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it. And also it is with you � we are in charge of our attitudes.

--- Charles Swindoll

So I now have the responsibility to pass this on to someone not from my dept or chain of command who has affected me with their attitude. We work in a huge institution full of many who would qualify. However, the irony of this after my tears a few weeks ago does not escape me...the pool from which I will choose has a few less fish than people may think.

Still, I am glad that I am torn between several significant people. We are fortunate to have such quandries in our lives.

I will let you know when I decide.