For my job, I work in a Rehabilitation & Healthcare Facility and my title is the Director of Recreation.
My job is to make sure that I run an Activities Department that is fully functional and is a lot of fun.
What many healthy people don’t realize is that in Life there are many sick people who can’t live in the community and function on their own without professional medical care.
I work in a healthcare facility that has 314 beds and those beds are almost always full.
As quickly as a person leaves is as fast as the bed gets filled.
The interesting part about being the Director of Fun in a Nursing/Rehabilitation Center is that most of the Residents are at the lowest point of their lives.
They are depressed. They are sad and scared.
Our job is to keep them wanting to live – to keep a light of hope alive that things might not be so bad and there is always a chance to spread love and have a good laugh.
As creative as my team and I can be is as good of a day the Residents will have.
Just the other day, I was doing rounds along the hallway inviting Residents to a big party where we would be having food and a band.
As I passed one Resident, a woman who is normally withdrawn, she was sitting in the hallway quietly looking down at her hands.
Inviting her to come downstairs to our party, she looked up and asked, “Just how many parties are you going to throw?”
She had never really said much of anything to me before that day.
Grinning, I said, “As many as I can fit into one day!”
She smiled and ever since then, she and I have grown to become good friends.
Leading the way to help others feel good is not always easy.
Especially when circumstances are tough – but when a team of good people work together to create an atmosphere that helps alleviate pressure, things tend to look up for people.
Life is intense.
Don’t forget to consult with your Director of Fun and do something that makes you feel good!
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