SFMMS Physician Wellness Message- from Jessie Mahoney MD, Chair of SFMMS Committee on Physician Wellness April 16, 2020 Physician Wellness COVID-19, Physician Wellness 0 SFMMS Physician Wellness Message- from Jessie Mahoney MD, Chair of SFMMS Committee on Physician Wellness Find More Personal Wellness During COVID-19 by Intentionally Deciding How You Want to Show Up Decide how you want to show up. Every day and every moment. Especially in the difficult ones. We can choose stories of unfairness or hardship. We can justify our pain and our anger. Or we can choose to own our day, own our relationships, and own our reality “just as it is.” We can choose to accept it and to allow it. We can choose to decide that “this is what we have today.” In the midst of coronavirus - with illness and suffering all around, children with ADHD struggling with homeschooling, toddlers having tantrums, teens frustrated by cancelled proms and graduations and social distancing, grocery stores out of toilet paper, bread and flour, and even with the challenges of a shortages of PPE and tragic consequences of a deadly virus, we can still choose to allow the sadness, irritation, hurt, frustration, and sense of loss inherent in the situation. We can choose to pause and be present. We can choose to stop resisting our reality. We can choose to nourish ourselves with self-care, a little nature, zoom yoga, or even just the breath, if that is what is available. All of this helps. We can also intentionally choose how we want to respond and show up in this moment. This is where our power and control lie. Why not choose to be “learning” instead of struggling? Choose “acceptance” over resistance. Choose “hope” over hopelessness. Choose to “love and feeling loved” - even when life and your relationships look different than you think they “should.” Choose connection and vulnerability over silence, isolation, and feeling alone. Choose to notice the impermanence of our current situation rather than the interminable. Our power is in our mind. Mindset work, coaching and mindfulness are not about being pollyanna, they are about "choosing your own adventure” instead of having it chosen for you by an unmanaged brain. They are protection for your emotional health. If any of you are interested in getting involved our SFMMS Wellness Committee, please let me know. We will be meeting monthly by zoom. Jessie Mahoney is a Pediatrician, a Physician Coach, and a long-time Physician Wellness Leader. The served as a Chief of Physician Health Wellness at TPMG for many years, is the former Chair of the CMA Subcommittee on Physician Wellness, and she is the current Chair of the SFMMS Task Force on Physician Wellness. She currently is serving her colleagues as a physician coach helping those who are successful on the surface yet struggling underneath. At the moment, her practice is focused on supporting physician colleagues who are dealing with the extraordinary stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic. She can be reached at jessie@jessiemahoneymd.com. Comments are closed.
