The Eras Tour
MINDFUL MOMENTS # 141
I know I’m no Taylor Swift, but I’d like to take you on a little Eras Tours of my own.
Today is my last day working as a junior doctor. Not because I’m jumping ship (although would you blame those who left The Titanic?) but because I’ve completed my training and, as of January 1st, I will be a fully-qualified GP.
Many of you reading this will have known me a long time (hi, Mum). My oldest school friends have known me since the days of year 7 when I said I was going to become a French paediatrician (because I liked French and I thoughts kids were cute). It may only be my parents who would recall a project in Year 5 where we had to give a presentation on an inspirational figure of our choice.
Somehow, I stumbled across the Wikipedia page of Dr Barnado, a paediatrician who established groups of orphanages across London in the Victorian era (hence Barnados childrens’ charity). I remember it was the day I learnt the word ‘entrepreneur’. From that day on, aged 10, I decided I wanted to be a doctor.
Here I am now, 20 years later, still wanting to be a doctor (just in slightly stronger glasses and slightly better teeth).
Helping out with the Brighton medical school interviews this week reminded me of the years of preparation that went into medical school applications: the volunteer work and the hobbies and developing an interest in one area of medicine that you could, if asked, go into more detail about.
For me, it’s an emotional thing, to reflect on the years of my medical training. I cannot separate them from the years of grieving my father: I took my Biology A-level the morning after we found out he had passed; I went to medical school just three months later. My lectures were interrupted with trips back to halls to cry. I was too emotionally-raw to sustain romantic relationships; I struggled to sit and revise because I couldn’t bear to do anything that didn’t make me “happy”; I leaned on the instant gratification and fleeting happiness from buying things, not able to care about the cost.
My journey through to this point has run directly in parallel with my journey coming to terms with the death of my father. How different a place I am in now, compared to then. What I have learned of medicine, I have matched with learning about myself.
When I look back on all the night shifts, medical ward work and exams (so many exams!), I’m also intensely aware of all the times I asked for help; all the times I leaned on those around me for support and reassurance.
I must extend my deepest gratitude to my parents, for all the ferrying to-and-from volunteer work and orchestra; for all the years of tearing out newspaper or New Scientist articles on various medical research discoveries they thought might interest me; for sitting and helping me with my homework; for believing I could get to this point; for encouraging but not pushing.
Mindful moment: Remember when you wanted what you currently have. Whatever career you have now, do you remember the day you applied for it and how excited you were to be successful in getting it? If your life has taken you to unexpected places, can you be grateful for all the twists and turns that brought you here? Are you able to see how every closed door was in fact an opening; how every ‘no’ was a ‘yes’ to something else? Can you extend your gratitude to those who helped you to get to this point? Old friends, new friends; ex-partners; teachers; strangers; those who like and those we don’t, how have they all played some part in getting you to where you are today? Don’t forget to look back on how far you’ve come.
YOGA
Mindful Movement with Laura
Join us every Saturday from 11am-12.15 at the Cornerstone Community Centre in Hove for an all-levels vinyasa yoga flow class, meditation and mindfulness (mats provided or bring your own). £6 per class or £24 for 5.
Upcoming classes:
January 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th
REFLECT
“By detours, access to secrets”
- Chinese proverb
Mindful moment: Life can look like a maze, and yet it is this which makes it so amazing. Looking back at all the paths that led you to this place, what has this taught you? Does it give you faith for the future? Can you put your trust in the new year; in a new era?
Have we met?
Welcome to the Community.
I'm Laura, a yoga teacher and NHS doctor. With this weekly newsletter I aim to help you incorporate mindful moments into your week. I want you to feel inspired, empowered and creative. I promise to always be authentic; to only include content that speaks to me and which, therefore, I hope will do the same for you.
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