Sometimes silence is necessary. That is the reflection of the day. I had a conversation with a patient that was extremely angry. She was angry because she was feeling neglected. In her mind, everyone is taking care of patients that have COVID-19 symptoms or issues but what about patients, like her, that do not have anything to do with COVID-19. She felt abandoned and angry, yelling at me because I decided to call her after the Call Center in our Medical Center could not handle her. She was out of control. I remember getting on the phone with this patient and simply saying that I was calling from our medical center when she started screaming and just telling me everything that she possibly could out of frustration and anger. I listened and let her just finish. Then, I said,” I want to help you. I want to make sure that you’re taken care of. So I am calling you to help you. Let me help you.” I took action and what I realized is something that I’ve tried many times. The louder someone is, the more silence you need to have. A person who speaks softly and has the ability to be quiet and listen with the intention of having a positive outcome, will get totally different results. I would like you to try this when you are speaking with someone that could be your spouse, anyone at work, friends or anybody that you’re interacting with who you don’t even know and is angry and yelling. Try just listening. Then, when you are ready to speak, do it softly and gently. You can guarantee it will be a different outcome. But if you are yelling just like they are, the results will not be a resolution and something positive isn’t possible. You can try it. It is impossible but when you are able to just quietly listen effectively, it will be a resolution. Let’s reflect, reset and reconnect.
