A story on National Public Radio this weekend told the story of how Jonathan Bartles, an emergency room nurse at the University of Virginia Medical Center has introduced a way for his colleagues to take a moment to collect their energies following the passing of one of their patients.

Bartles described how his colleagues would usually find themselves stressed after the death of a patient but would just move on to the next emergency until one day a minister walked into their room and asked them to join him in a prayerful moment in memory of the patient. The next time a patient passes, Bartles changed the ritual a bit asking his team to take a moment of thought for the person who just a few minutes had been a mother, father, son or daughter. His team took those few moments allowing themselves to transition from life to death and then back to life. It was a pause in their busy day that helped them renew their focus.

While most of us won’t be dealing with life or death issues on a daily basis, intentionally taking a taking a momentary pause to notice and collect our thoughts and feelings during a hectic days is a perfect example of the power of resilience.

© Richard Citrin, All rights reserved, 2015