Dr Iain Jamieson is a General Practitioner (GP) in the NHS in Scotland. He has a specialty in mental health and addiction medicine and is involved in training new GPs and, as an appraiser, helping to support more experienced ones. He writes about work stress, pressure and anxiety.
“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?” (Luke 9: 25).
What good indeed. I find myself reflecting on this passage often. One of the downsides about my job is the ever present risk of “getting it wrong” or “making a mistake”. Now these days that can mean jail time and instant dismissal never to practice again. These days it’s a risky time to be a doctor.
I’m not alone in this I suspect - pilots, train drivers, all those who manage uncertainty in an unpredictable world and who live under the shadow of “judgement in retrospect” (a much easier thing to do) are at the mercy of a society that must “blame” and “hold to account”.
So what can you do…
You can only be what you can be, the best you can be, with as good a heart as you can muster and trust God to do the rest. I think if I focus on the mission - to serve Christ as I best I can with all I have then I’m doing the right thing and what follows is in the plan, what follows is a gift even when it may not seem like it at the time.
This is a prayer for those who face judgment on every decision they make.
Deep breath in, deep breath out…
Jesus.
There is only you.
The universe flows through the cross.
There was before and there is after and there is that fixed point in the universe.
Help me to keep my focus on that, that cross, that tragedy and that triumph
You faced death and found it wanting
How can I be any less
With you beside me I can live life truly and freely
With you to guide me I can walk with confidence
There is no good to be found in the music of the whole world unless I sing in harmony with you.
Selah
Deep breath in, deep breath out…
Jesus
There has always been you
And me
And the universe around us
We swim in time
But you, are timeless
You see all I have been
You see all I am
You see all I will be
And still you love me
Me
And there are no words to say
To one who is at God’s right hand, with angels and powers in submission to him
But thank you
Thank you.
Dr Iain Jamieson
#work #pressure #professional #career #expectations #anxiety