Life is such that I can never be in complete control of what I have to do and with whom I have to do it.  Traffic, emergencies and annoying people occur in every life.

The one thing over which I do have total influence is who I am in every circumstance. 

When I quit practicing medicine a lot of people were surprised.  It seems I didn’t appear particularly unhappy.

I think that’s because I do my best to maintain a state of mind that keeps me functioning as a person that I like.  Even when I am not thrilled with my situation in life, it is completely within my power NOT to become a miserable grump of a human.

Paying attention to the little things that make me feel awesome helps me navigate the big and little things that irk my nerves.  I’ve found consistently incorporating small joys into my life is more effective than waiting for that amazing event that is supposed to rid my world of dissatisfaction.

When I was practicing ob/gyn, I spent most of my waking hours in a medical setting.  That made it necessary to craft an environment within medicine that supported me feeling well, even after I decided clinical practice wasn’t for me.

For me a large part of that was embracing my love of music.

Music makes me really happy.  I love to hear, sing (not well) and dance to it.

When I worked in a medical office, the radio on my side of the office played music all day.  Listening to the latest pop ear candy or some throwback 1980s hits helped my mood regardless of what might be jumping off with the patients.

In the hospital, everyone knew I didn’t do surgery without music if I could help it.  My Cesarean patients can attest most of their children inhaled their first breaths to a melodic background.

It was so much more pleasant for me to perform that 3 am Cesarean delivery if there were some tunes playing, regardless of the genre.  Thankfully, I have remarkably eclectic musical taste so I could roll with almost anything a patient might request.

If you put my ipod on shuffle you might just hear U2, Kirk Franklin, Tim McGraw, and Outkast on consecutive tracks.

My penchant for music also helped me develop the personal connections I enjoy.  I would have never known one of my favorite patients shared an appreciation for the musical stylings of Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam if “Head to Toe” wasn’t playing during her C-section.

There was a great surgical physician assistant at one of my hospitals with whom I loved to operate.  Her finely honed technical skills are not what make her stick out most in my memory though.  Rather, it’s the numerous conversations we had as she tried to explain to me how it’s possible she doesn’t like Prince.

There are countless patients with whom I discussed everything from the re-enactments of the Thriller video after the King of Pop passed to the fact my youthful medical assistants had never heard of Van Halen.  We were able to relate to each other on a different level because I liked music.

This is just a simple example of how I brought something I always enjoy into an atmosphere that wasn’t necessarily fun for me every day.  For other people it may be having pictures of their families on their desks or decorating their offices in their favorite color.

The key is it doesn’t need to be a huge production to be beneficial.

The beauty of making music part of my work life is it wasn’t a big deal to most of the people around me.  However, it totally fed my spirit and helped me in my efforts to be the person I want to be every day.

What ways do you incorporate the things you like into your work life?  How do you make sure you stay the person you want to be in all situations?

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