Jacqueline Vance, RNC, CDONA/LTC

Have you ever contemplated on an apple? Not the tech stuff but the fruit.

An apple is absolutely amazing. And when you really think about it, our lives are just like one.

I don’t mean we are round and red, golden or green; I mean mimic the potential and vulnerability of an apple.

You see, both apples and people have skin, and that skin can be bruised easily. We can choose to throw out a bruised apple or throw out our potential when we are feeling “bruised,” or we can recognize the potential. Sometimes, we allow the world to tell us our value and make us feel like “ugly fruit” and because of that, we don’t reach our potential.

What do I mean by potential? Well think about it. First, an apple has no choice as to what type of apple it is. It is “born” a Golden Delicious, Honeycrisp, Red Delicious or Granny Smith. (I know there are more, but this is a blog, not a novel.) An apple may be “born” in a large commercial orchard, in someone’s back yard, or in an abandoned lot where a seed was tossed. But, all apples share the same DNA of potential. What is done with that is a choice. 

An apple has wonderful nutrients in it as well as seeds. It has the potential to nourish our bodies, quench our thirst. And the seeds? Wow, how many trees are in just one apple? You can choose to throw the apple core out, choose to plant a single tree or plant a whole bunch of trees.

You can choose to take full advantage of the apple’s potential or choose to take advantage of some of the apple’s potential or choose to toss away all of its potential. Your choice.

Like the apple, we don’t have a choice into what circumstances we are born into; ethnicity, geography, situation, etc., even our IQ. And like the apple, we all share the DNA for enormous potential, no matter whether we are a “Red Delicious apple” or a “Granny Smith apple.” It is our choice what we do with what we are born with. Think about the some of the celebrity stories that we hear on the news: a child of the rich and famous with every advantage available to them, wasting their life away in drugs, alcohol and petty crimes.

Then think about the child born in a crime-infested, poverty-stricken neighborhood who puts all he has into education while working full time after school to change the circumstances he was born into, being the first in their family to graduate college.

Both could be bruised — the rich kid being totally neglected by her socialite parents, the poor kid roughed up by the neighborhood. But both have amazing potential to be the best they can be if they choose to use it.  

Our choices in life matter greatly. Our path in life is impacted by those choices.  We chose to work in long-term care. We can show up each day, do a “job,” go home at the end of the day and collect our paychecks. Or, we can choose to “plant an orchard,” bear fruit and impact the life of many. We can mentor, guide, inspire, care, and impact a life every day. You have the DNA, but it’s your choice what to do with it.

I guess what I’m trying to say is: We can’t choose our start but we sure can choose our finish. It should plant seeds of thought — apple or not — for everything you do.

Just keeping it real,

Nurse Jackie

The Real Nurse Jackie is written by Jacqueline Vance, RNC, CDONA/LTC, an APEX Award of Excellence winner for Blog Writing. Vance is a real life long-term care nurse. A nationally respected nurse educator and past national LTC Nurse Administrator of the Year, she also is an accomplished stand-up comedienne. She has not starred in her own national television series — yet. The opinions supplied here are her own and do not necessarily reflect those of her employer or her professional affiliates.