Human psychology has always interested me. I enjoy learning about why people say and do the things we do. All I really know about it though is that it is so much more complicated than I can begin to comprehend. There are doctors who have studied it extensively and most of them only have theories. Nonetheless, people intrigue me. I am amazed at how strong some people are, and also at how vulnerable and the same we really all are when outside influences are stripped away. It never ceases to amaze me to learn what people can handle. When I meet a woman who has taken care of her cancer-stricken husband for months on end and still has her sanity, I am amazed. When I meet a mom and dad whose baby has been in and out of hospitals since the day he or she was born, and they still manage to smile and ask me about my kids, I am inspired. I admire how strong people can be in the midst of tumultuous times, and sometimes on the worst days of their lives.
Unfortunately I often meet people on some of the worst days of their lives. I always knew that I would, from the day I started EMT class, and I thought it would be hard. I was working in a retail job at the time and I had dealt with some livid people. I thought that it was going to be even harder to deal with people in dire circumstances. After being in the emergency field for awhile I can honestly tell you that people are less angry on what could possibly be the worst day of their life than they are when they are moderately inconvenienced. I definitely think that is interesting, and of course there are a few exceptions to the rule, but for the most part it seems to be a paradox.
I think that somehow we gain strength when we need it most. We manage to pull through things we never thought we would be able to. We succeed in overcoming because we have no other choice. We learn to do things that we never thought were possible. Someone was talking to me the other day about how people tend to put a cap on their abilities. We tend to think that whatever we were told as a child or even a young adult is true. If someone told us we can't do something, then it must be true. I think the sooner we recognize that not everything uttered to us (especially from someone who doesn't genuinely care) is not true, the better off we are. Of course most people are their own toughest critics. We put a cap on our abilities because we are comfortable with where we are and changing and growing might hurt. But, when I look at all the ordinary (turned extraordinary) people who have managed to persevere on the worst day of their lives, I have hope that we are capable of so much more than we think.
"Sometimes success isn't in the ability to do what others cannot, but in the willingness to do what others will not."
-Anonymous
