A Licensed Practical Nurse is Uneasy With Her Depression and Makes Up Her Mind to Start Exercising, Stop Smoking, Quit Drinking, and Go on a Diet

For the past nine years Natalie has been a nurse at a large community hospital. As a nurse practitioner, she without a doubt knew what to tell her patients about their health difficulties but in her private life, nonetheless, she clearly didn’t practice what she preached. As an example, she commonly drank quite abusively, she avoided any physical exercise whatsoever, she smoked nearly two packs of cigarettes per day, and she was nearly fourteen pounds overweight.

Natalie Gets Into An Automobile Accident, Fails An Alcohol Test, and Goes to Jail

One afternoon on her way to work, Natalie got into a vehicle accident. Because the accident was her fault and because her speech was jumbled when she spoke, the arresting policewoman gave her a breathalyzer test. In agreement with standard police operating procedures, when a person gets involved in an automobile accident and fails to pass a sobriety test, the individual has to spend at least seven hours in the local jail.

Actually, Natalie should have known better than to drive after she was drinking because she recently participated in an “alcohol abuse awareness” class at the hospital that focused on statistics, issues, and information about alcohol facts such as the following: binge drinking, DUIs, alcohol poisoning, and the essential differences between alcohol addiction and alcohol abuse.

Natalie is Experiencing More Than a Little Shame About Her Traffic Accident

Needless to say, Natalie experienced more than a little shame about her traffic accident. Moreover, she experienced more than a little shame about the fact that the accident was her fault. And possibly worst of all, she experienced quite a bit of shame about the fact that she was driving after she consumed a few drinks. As Natalie considered her situation, however, she thought that it could have been worse because at the hospital, when a blood test for alcohol is administered and failed, the individual has to go to obligatory alcohol rehab and is placed on non-pay status. This was simply one of the alcohol facts that was a reality at work and not much could be expected to change this fact.

Natalie’s Shame and Depression About Her Car Accident Motivates Her To Reconsider Her Life and Make Some Substantial and Positive Changes

In any event, Natalie’s shame about her vehicle accident forced her to reexamine her life and make some remarkable and positive modifications. First, she was going to quit drinking in an irresponsible and abusive manner. Second, she was going to stop smoking. Third, she was going to lose some weight. And fourth, she was going to start exercising.

As displeased and depressed as Natalie was about the entire vehicle accident situation, she used this agonizing experience as a trigger for beneficial change. Furthermore, she used her upsetting experience as a real source of discovery that she had been failing to address her own health while she professionally told other individuals how to live a more healthy life. After all had been said and done, she finally saw the hypocrisy in her behavior and finally determined that she would live her life as a constructive source of motivation for other people.