This and That

I guess I need to blog every two weeks whether I know what it is going to be about or not. Whoo! Our final Farsi class for the year was held last week. I continue to be a one-trick pony with my one Farsi prayer until I memorize more. I need to go back to the selections I wrote down from other classes, get back into it and get studying again. Ideal some time would be to collect Farsi editions of Baha'i writings so I can identify selections I already know in English and memorize the authorized translations [identified and read by my favorite local Persian.] I guess, technically, that would be originals, not translations.

Have learned to 80 or 90% accuracy the alphabet, still just starting to see how letters connect. Baby steps.

So much is going on. At work our census is very low, so nurses are trying to work shorter hours so no positions get cut. Today I innovated with a split shift: I came in at 9:30, worked until 1 PM, then clocked out, returning from 4 PM to 10 PM. That way I gave up hours when there was plenty of other staff available, and was not feeling so pressured to leave early during the evening hours when there are family visits and lots of skin issues which crop up, as well as [unfortunately] the occasional fall.

I'm working on increasing my communication ability to become more assertive; some of the results are painful and difficult. Family members form perceptions of me being unfriendly, when I may just be concentrating. I'm revisiting the notion of introversion as how it relates to the way I come across at work and elsewhere. Also, for a person who draws energy from an inward focus, multiple interactions over a long, 12-hour shift build up a lot of frustration for me. It's difficult to be alone, to think, to recharge. People notice. I work in a virtual fishbowl [only drier.]

Just identifying these issues so I can think about them and figure out strategies to help, is helping me. And so was the split shift today.