FIGURE
As I look at the end of my presidency, I am filled with many emotions: happiness, sadness, anticipation, and relief. I would like to take this opportunity to do two things. First, I want to thank all the people who have supported me in this undertaking. This is not a one-person job. Second, I want to share some thoughts. The passion in my bones makes me want to make a difference in nursing, health-care, people's lives, and myself.
I am a firm believer that sometimes a word, a phrase, an idea, or a picture can change lives. I have a collection of "one-liner buttons" that caught my attention. Many are funny, some are philosophic, some wise, some cute, and all truthful in some degree.
My reversible mood button is probably one of the most useful, it has a picture of a thumb on it and can be worn upside down or right side up and can be turned around if the situation warrants. Do you see the glass as half full or half empty? See if any of these speak to you.
* The only difference between stepping-stones and stumbling blocks is how you use them!!
* The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.
* The world changes so fast you couldn't be wrong all the time if you tried.
* If you don't like what you are getting, change what you are doing!!
* A window of opportunity won't open itself.
* If the going is easy-BEWARE!! You are going downhill!!
* I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody. Bill Cosby
* We are our choices!!Jean-Paul Sartre
* Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Eva Mae Brown
I have been fortunate to represent NAON at the ANA House of Delegates, Nursing Organizations Alliance, AAOS, as well as other gatherings of healthcare providers. The healthcare field is not easy to work in or navigate through, but it is interesting.
* The art of modern medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease. Voltaire
* If you look like your ID photo, you are too ill to work.
* Health Insurance is like a hospital gown...You only THINK you are covered!!Tim Porter-O'Grady
* It's only work if you would rather be doing something else.
* The sicker you are, the harder it is to remember if you took your medicine.
* It is easier to get older than it is to get wiser.
* Learn which bridges to cross and which ones to burn. David Russell
* If it is stupid but it works...It isn't stupid.
* It is easier to do a job right than to explain why you didn't. Martin Van Buren
* Life is near-death experience. George Carlin
* Does dodging deadlines count as exercise?
* Everything is within walking distance if you have the time. Steven Wright
* Remember as you go through the day... Be a faucet not a drain.
Some questions just make you stop and think.
* Why does sour cream have an expiration date?
* The Lord didn't do it all in one day. What makes me think I can?
* What would a chair look like if your knees bent the other way?
* When did all my wild oats turn to prunes and bran?
* Are we too busy mopping up the floors to fix the leaky roof?
* Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?
* Box or no Box-Just think!!Beth Ciuffini
* It is much harder to ask the right question than it is to find the right answer to the wrong question. E. E. Morison
* Two wrongs don't make a right, but three rights make a left.
* When Thomas Edison invented the lightbulb, he didn't start by trying to improve the candle.
We have the duty to look around and ask, "Why?" or "Why not?" Use the passion in your bones to think, laugh, and make a difference. Here are some random closing thoughts.
* Bad news: time flies. Good news: you are the pilot.
* Never lend your car to someone to whom you have given birth!!Erma Bombeck
* There are two rules for ultimate success in life-
First, never tell all you know.
Second, . . .
* You can't have it all-where would you put it?
* You may not know all the answers, but you probably won't be asked all the questions.
* Organized people are just too lazy to look for things.
* First rule of intelligent tinkering-save all the pieces.
* Underneath my clothes, I am completely naked.
* Constipation happens!!Dennis Ross
* Sometimes a little brain damage can help. George Carlin
* I have not yet begun to procrastinate!!
* Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
* Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.
* OH!! NO!! Not another Learning Experience!!
* Some mornings I just don't feel like slaying dragons.
* Many people miss their share of happiness, not because they never found it, but because they didn't stop to enjoy it. William Feather
* Give me the perseverance to postpone procrastination until tomorrow.
* Well-behaved women rarely make history.
Thank you for allowing me to serve and share.