Getting away with it

Several years ago, I was behind a gentleman at the grocery story.  He was fiddling with the eggs and muttering to himself.  He turned to me and exclaimed, "I don't see how they get away with it."  He went on to explain that he used to run a chicken farm and send eggs to the grocery store.  He always made sure he sent good eggs.  He started showing me how these eggs were small, cracked and not healthy looking.  I had never known that there was a difference.  I always thought an egg was an egg was an egg.  Later, some friends would give us two hens to keep in our back yard.  After a few weeks, we began eating out own, free range chicken eggs.  I could NOT believe the difference.  That man in the grocery store was right.  How in the world could the grocery stores claim that they were selling the same thing that I was growing in my back yard?  This morning, I happened to have one of our free-range eggs and a store bought egg and fried them up in the same pan.  You cannot tell much of a difference from the picture.  The one on the right is our egg.  It has a much deeper orange color and the sack around the yolk cooks up much differently.  I have had to spend some time understanding how differently the eggs cook up.  There is no comparison on taste.  Or course, the nutritional value is much different.
There is something in our culture that seems to train us to accept everything as the same.  When I was a paramedic, the only requirements were 'a pulse and a patch'.  Excellence in emergency medicine were not recognized.  In many ways, nursing is the same way.  With a shortage in nursing, you used to be able to get a job anywhere, any time.  My first job was offered to me over the phone with a hiring bonus.  Later on, I would go to work in an emergency department and learn that there are vast differences in nursing.  Even after I gained some experience and confidence, my mentor would remind me that I was pretty good "For a nurse with 1 year of experience."  I would later have the privilege of working with a couple of very seasoned nurses, and realize the huge difference in nurses. They would end up leaving because excellence in nursing was, again, not rewarded (or even recognized).
So we go back to the big question:  How do they get away with it?  Why does mediocrity hold such a prevalent status?  I think that it has to do with two things.  The first is that we don't make a big effort and discernment.  We just take things at face value, and settle.  I think that it is a bit of laziness.  The second is that we don't want to threaten anyone.  If there is one thing that my experiences over the past couple of years.  Very, very few people want to be confronted with concerns or issues.  I am certainly guilty of that.  I went to great lengths to keep people from being able to tell me where I was going wrong.  It is far easier to blame someone else when things are not going well.  It is excruciating to look at your own part of it.
I think this is the biggest reason people keep getting away with it.  We don't love each other enough to tell the truth to each other.  Worse than that, we don't trust each other enough to listen.  All truth needs to be spoken in love for it to be heard.  I have learned this the hard way.
So, now that I know the difference in so many things in my life, I struggle some days.  Comparing the way things are to the way that they could be is hard.  Understanding what part I play in all things is even harder.  We bought 4 more chicks to give us more eggs.  Perhaps we can make a little progress one egg at a time.

In the moment

If you ever wanted to get back to the present moment, there is no easier way than spending time with a child.  I took 6 year old Carter with me to work last week.  I was simply making an appearance and a co-worker offered to let him watch her TV while I did some paperwork.  I thought I was doing a nice thing for him, letting him tag along.  I soon realized that our trip to work would be wonderful for me.
About half  way down a very long hall, Carter announced that he couldn't step on any white floor tiles.  This had us hopping around an laughing until we turned the corner to find all white.  He looked at them and declared it was alright.  These tiles had blue mixed in with the white.  Whew!  On the way out, Carter announced that he had only 3 lives left.  When he started loosing lives, he decided that the blue tiles gave him a life.  Whew!  At the end of the final hall, he evened everything out and ended up with only one life.  Then, of course, he got to push the button on the elevator. 
Today, I spent some time with a 3 year old who became very excited about hanging clothes out to dry.  She fetched a chair to stand on so she could help.  Of course, she wanted a different bag to hold her clothes pins.  We then spent about 4 times as long hanging up clothes as it would have normally taken.
Both of these times (among many others) have brought me back to what is really important in this world.  In a job where people's health and well being are dependent on me, I can remember not to take myself so seriously.  I, now, walk up and down the halls avoiding the white squares.  If I see wrinkles in the clothes, I can know that beautiful little hands helped hang them up.  She did it with such care and pride.
Life is so full of stuff.  Some days, I feel inundated with all of the bad stuff going around.  Some days, I even spend a little time feeling sorry for myself.  I am beginning to come to terms with how much of my time is wasted on all of the bad side of things.  I have been challenged by someone to start focusing on the bright side.  A few more days hanging out with the amazing kids might just be the ticket!  Plus, I get to have some adult fun tonight going to a concert.  I'm about to get my dance on.  Watch out!