A little perspective...

     A few days ago at the Urgent Care I work at there was a patient that came in with a drug overdose. That isn't a typical thing that we see and it was pretty intense for a while. After we had sent him off in an ambulance, I sat down to think about what had just happened. I was initially judgmental of the patient and uncomfortable with the way he was acting. When he and his friend came in they didn't really tell me what he was there for, so I didn't realize the severity of the situation until they slowly started giving me more information. At first I was thinking, "what is wrong with this kid?" because he was acting so weird. I assumed he was on drugs, but I just don't have a lot of experience when it comes to that kind of thing. It just made me realize what a bubble I live in. I have my nice comfortable and stable life that I know I take for granted. I started to think about the reality of his life and what he must be going through. Who am I to judge when I have no idea what his life has been like? No one wants to end up in the hospital, whether its self inflicted or not. I can't imagine living in a life where things like drug overdoses happen. As they were leaving his friend asked, "I did the right thing to bring him in, right?" I told him yes, absolutely. I wish I would have said more though, offered some words of comfort and assurance. It brought tears to my eyes as I thought of his struggle and how he must be dealing with things that I can't even imagine. I have been so blessed with stability and love in my life, for guidance and direction to help me make good choices. Sometimes I get so caught up in my life and forget to see other people and their needs. So, for a moment my eyes were opened a little to something outside of myself. I caught a glimpse of a life in turmoil and it truly made me grateful for all that I have.