What is your why? If you have not found your why, or don’t think your why has merit – think again! Who gets the privilege to define your why? Every one of us has a reason why we have chosen our profession, and I am greatly interested in your why.
The longer we remain in the profession our why changes; however, we continue to do the job for the same reasons. For these reasons, many outside of the profession will never understand, and we should not expect them to. At any given moment, we could have a story as to our why and someone outside our profession would begin to question our sanity.
I started my journey in 2001 with many unanswered questions about what I wanted to do with my time of adulthood. One thing that was certain, I wanted to help people! How many times have you said or heard that? Can you still say it? It wasn’t until 2003, nearing high school graduation when my why became concrete. My first major call was for a young child that ended up losing his life while he and his family were enjoying their time together, doing something many of us have probably done ourselves. Still very new to the profession, I watched experienced co-workers seamlessly move through the ‘gates of hell’ giving their every effort to help this child and his family. It wasn’t until many days later, we learned all efforts were exhausted. My why was fortified with the unknown. The constant thought of ‘there must be a way to make opportunities for survival better for everyone’ was engraved in my brain.
This thought is not only on my mind but on yours also. Therefore, we train and retrain many times a year trying to be part of and give the opportunity of survival in any situation we are in. We are fortunate to have many training opportunities in our great state with excellent instructors. It warms my heart, in my opinion, knowing Missouri is the best at what we do! Art Smith once told me, “Every encounter deserves your best effort”.
Your why is unique to you! As it should be. Others may not understand your why, and that’s fine. It really isn’t for them to define or understand. This is the special part of what makes up a team. Each person has a specialty that shines when needed.
Have you ever been told you are too driven by your passion? I will admit, a person can allow passion to interfere with normalcy if normalcy is even a thing. What passion does for our field, allows us to always improve and provide opportunities for survival. Always remember YOUR why! Those we serve across Missouri, are in great hands! Stay safe!
FFAM
