Probably no one ever fully gets to appreciate the fruits of their labor --
no matter what their task or cause.  Brick walls eventually crumble
precisely because people keep busting their heads against them.  Sooner or
later, things change as the direct result of dumb, faithful persistence.
All we have to do is our jobs; and that includes being change agents (like
it says in the ILCA Scope of Practice.)  I rarely get discouraged because I
love my work so much that I would probably pay someone every morning just to
let me do it. Here we are in a profession that has so much un-done research
that any one of us has the opportunity to do important research if she wants
to.  We impact the individual mother in ways that, if you run into her in
the market ten years later, she's still grateful to you.  We have plenty of
opportunities to creatively express ourselves -- and that includes having
fun thinking up strategies to bust through the brick wall a little quicker.
But to do that, you have to do your homework and read and study to keep
yourself sharp, because that's what the competition does.  No crying over
being out-smarted is permitted to the lazy!

 An attitude shift into gratitude for what we DO  have going for us can
prevent burn-out.  And I think it is burn-out that I hear when I read rants.
Don't forget how very powerful it is to just keep trying -- even if it is
just you by yourself.  And remember to detatch from the outcome, because
many (if not most) pioneers, never get to see the results of their long
struggles.

Barbara Wilson-Clay, BS, IBCLC
Austin Lactation Associates
LactNews Press
www.lactnews.com

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