We have all had a taste of what it is like not to be able to do what we want when we want and for many it took a bit of getting used to. Freedom is something that we take for granted in New Zealand. It’s something that is not so readily available for many other countries so having a taste of being restricted is not such a bad thing for us. Have you ever wonder what is freedom to you?
I know for myself I had never thought about not being able to hop in the car and go wherever I wanted. I have been driving since I was 15 so it is part of who I am. Having to stay home in my own little haven, was at times a bit challenging but I learnt other ways to keep in contact with my friends and family. I no longer take others for granted and I now will pick up the phone to talk to my friends more. While I do spend a considerable amount of time on the phone talking to owners and managers of facilities and organisations about Care Training Online, I have been a bit less forthcoming on picking up the phone to call others or find other ways to connect with friends and family.
So, over this time, I have joined House Party which is a face to face social networking AP. It is a great way to talk to a group of people. I now can talk regularly to my sisters together, so I don’t have to make individual calls – and we can see each other too.
I have learnt to use Zoom which is another networking tool used by many businesses to keep in contact with clients and staff who work remotely or at home. I use it for business, for Rotary and for other networking groups. Being able to see people face to face you get all the facial expression that are missed by phone or email really enhances communication.
I have also learnt to use Messenger for calls and for video groups. This is a way I keep in contact with another group of people. And of course, there is also Facetime. So many options to choose from. So being in lockdown has taught me to find other more effective ways to communicate. I have mentioned some of these in this newsletter but check our this video on ways people kept in communication with others during lockdown.
I’ve heard that many facilities were able to use some of these mediums to keep the families connected with their loved ones. This is what is so amazing about the people who choose to work in residential care be it with the elderly or disability sector; so many of you go beyond the call of duty to make sure your residents and their families are kept up to date with their loved ones and this is in addition to your normal workload. This is what caring is all about.
Now while many of you have felt overloaded and underappreciated, certainly in the past, I do hope you are not saying that now. The whole country and families now see the value you add to their lives and their loved ones. If you troll through Facebook, there are many positive comments about how well you all did to keep everyone safe not to mention the wonderful photos and videos you posted of your team at work making people happy.
Sure, there was some negative comments, but you cannot take those one board. There are always people who keep their glasses half empty. Even though man of us learnt to focus on the negative rather than the positive in our school system, it is not too hard to change the way you think. How many of you focused on the red crosses in our tests – the incorrect answer, rather than the blue ticks that were correct. You have to shift away from that. It serves no purpose for you or anyone else.
So negative comments or red crosses are actually learning experiences. That is all. Just like failing in anything, it is an opportunity to do better or do something different. Why don’t you count the number of learning experiences you had each day, rather than the number of things you did wrong or got wrong.
So today my message is this. Everything you do in life is good – be it correct or incorrect in the eyes of others because each you learn from what you do. You keep repeating what you do well and get congratulated for and you stop repeating what was done incorrectly. Both have their rewards. It’s just the way you look at it. If you listen to this video about turning failure into success, the message is very clear – there is no such thing is failure but you do need to be your authentic self.