Yesterday I was on a call with a nursing leader from the state nurse association where I will be the key note speaker for their annual convention this fall. She and I were discussing the plans for my various talks and presentations.

During the conversation she mentioned my incorporation of a nursing model into the key note address. Wanting to satisfy the nurse convention requirements and deliver a motivational key note for nurses, I easily agreed.

After we hung up the phone, I went on about my evening, knowing that I work best letting information settle and digest. My creative juices would bubble and flow after I allowed some time to pass. And I was right.

This morning during my meditation practice I began to contemplate nursing models and nurse theory. Knowing that my signature work focuses on Nursing from Within, I am incorporating these concepts into the key note speech. I started to think about Nursing from Within and realized that the very framework of what I teach really is a nursing model for change and growth.

What was interesting to me was my initial reaction to the state association leader’s request: “Can you incorporate a nursing model into your talk?” To be honest, at first I felt scared, overwhelmed and intimidated. That fear immediately shut off my creative flow and placed a barrier in between any forward momentum.

And that’s what I want to touch on today: fear of the unknown. 

This week I am taking some time off, resting and relaxing in sunny Cape May, NJ. After my Yoga class yesterday I had the strong desire to clear some negative energy. I have been feeling blocked by my recent growth and success within my business. So when I got home from practice, I hopped on the internet and started searching for ‘energy healing, energy work, Reiki in Cape May’.

A crystal store came to the top of the search list. A store I had never heard of and was literally right down the street, and come to find out, had been there for over 14 years.

I went to the shop and spent over an hour. I perused all of the self-help book titles, browsed through the various card decks and even chatted with the customers and store keeper. I even got my brief Reiki session as a man there was doing some healing work and since I shared I was sore from my work out he laid hands on me (an added bonus!).

As I was checking out at the register, the store owner said: “We are pulling from the heavenly deck today. Think of a family member who has passed and pull a card. What it reveals is their message to you.”

Now I do not know how I feel about heaven and hell, and I certainly was eaves-dropping when the other customers pulled their cards, thinking to myself “This is all nonsense. What baloney.”

And then it happened. I pulled the card which said “I had to leave that way.” For those of you who have been following my work, you know that my uncle took his own life in 2010. Since he has been the closest family member to me that has passed when I pulled the card, I immediately thought of him. The message that the card revealed spoke volumes.

It was real. 

“I had to leave that way” was the message from my uncle.

Back to the point of this post: fear of the unknown. I do not know how pulling cards works. I do not know how stones, crystals and energy heals. I do not know a lot of things in the non physical realm. And that is OK.

Yet just because we do not know something does not mean we have to be afraid of it.

With respect to the talk I am preparing to deliver in October, I do not know how it will go. I do not know how the audience will perceive me, how I will inspire them or how the convention turns out. I may not know a lot about nursing academia, and that is OK.

Love can heal any fear. Love can allow for growth and change. Love can walk with you as you travel closer and closer to ultimate success. Love brings joy, peace and grounding. 

Nursing from Within is a nursing model that instils inspiration, hope and change. Tuning into the Nurse Within creates empowered leadership for the individual nurse, their career and ultimately the nursing profession. This is what I know because it is coming from and filled with love.

I would love to hear your thoughts. Please leave a comment, question or reflection below. Thank you for reading and enjoy the day.