Life Lessons
Personal life stories and key learnings; Survivor stories
How Did We End Up Here?
I spent most of this week at the hospital with an elderly family member recovering from another medical crisis. Frequent hospitalizations, aging and a need for a better plan required some serious conversations around what the future holds. We all have visions of staying home for as long as possible and avoiding living our final years in a nursing home. Having worked in senior health care for most of my career it isn’t any easier when it’s someone you love faced with tough decisions. Health care providers are facilitating these emotional conversations around end of life and encouraging us to talk about our wishes and preferences for care when we...
Read MoreSeasons
With the changing weather I’m reflecting on the span of changes over the last year, from the loss of dear friends to moving our home of 18 years, my office of 2 years and thankfully lots of interesting business. Some of the changes have been welcome and exciting while some more sorrowful, either way the end of last year reminds me that everything has a season and the new year is another beginning just like each new day. One of the changes in life is the many people I get to meet in the work I do, from individuals and families to the business people and projects that come my way. From supporting the leadership team of a large non-profit organization striving...
Read MorePaying Attention
June was a busy month with the move of our home and my office. We’ve put up pictures and personal items so it looks like our home and I think we’ve settled into a comfortable routine. I just finished organizing the guest bedroom and my husband and I were at Target last week so I could pick up a pillow sham for the bedroom. Since it was hot out we stopped by the refreshment stand to buy some water, after a few sips I told my husband he could sit and finish his water while I ran to make my purchase. I left and returned a few minutes later, I barely noticed a little girl sitting at a nearby table by herself. As I finished my water and we stood to leave...
Read MoreFeels Like Home
Well we’ve finally unpacked the last box and put up a few pictures so after moving mid June it’s starting to feel like home. We only moved about 3 blocks away from our old home so we’re in the same neighborhood but I did make a bigger move when I moved my office back home. I decided to use one of the extra bedrooms for my home office but the first room I chose didn’t feel right, too narrow so I ended up moving everything into the next bedroom which is a bit larger. I’ve filled my book cases and set up my printer and all the internet connections. I get the morning sun in my home office so it’s very bright and sunny...
Read MoreMoving and Managing Change
I’ve been celebrating significant family events the past few weeks, a baptism, graduation and wedding just this weekend. As spring rolls into early summer I’m also surrounded by boxes as we pack up our belongings and prepare to move into another house. I’ve been thinking and feeling my way though all the changes in my life and I realized that this house we’ve lived in for 17 years no longer feels like our home. My husband and I have been feeling the effects of transition as we send extra furniture and clothes to charitable organizations and family members. We had a chance to reflect on how much we enjoyed giving useful items to family members or those...
Read MoreManaging Change and Transition
From Personal to Organizational I thought I was handling the loss of my friend in a very mature and healthy way but as I suffered with stomach pain and loss of sleep I began to rethink my reality. I shared my thoughts with a friend of mine when I told her “I realized I wasn’t managing so well when I came home and immediately ordered pizza for supper,” and all this was happening during my starting the new Weight Watchers program! Good grief, what was I thinking? Maybe managing transition around grief and loss isn’t so easy even if you’re an experienced health care professional and you’ve had lots of personal experience. I know the intellectual steps...
Read MoreQuick Bio
Mary Chapa is a multi-talented woman with a background in nursing leadership, quality management and business development in both health care and private industry; she's also a writer and a passionate holistic health practitioner living in Minnesota.
Follow Mary!