She was one of those rare people.

She noticed the little things. She knew that if there was a little problem, chances are there could be a big problem.

Her life was not wasted.

Because of her, modern nursing has changed for the better.

She cared so much. She could not look the other way.

That is a hero.

She could easily have settled into a life of ease at her family’s country mansion; instead, she chose a path of arduous commitment to caring for others.

She could have lived a rich life (in the material sense) doing nothing. She could have lived a luxurious life because her family was from the upper class. Instead, she turned her back on the luxury and chose to take care of the sick and injured as her life’s mission.

She viewed being a health care professional as her calling in this life and not just as a job.

Her family was an affluent British family that belonged to elite social circles. Her father provided her with a classical education, including studies in German, French and Italian.

In spite of the vast wealth that surrounded her, this woman saw nothing that inspired her in the fortune around her. Rather, she felt happiness in helping others (those who are sick). She would be seen many times at her young age helping the sick and trying to help anyone who was feeling poorly.

By the time she was 16 years old, it was clear to her that nursing was her calling. She believed it to be her divine purpose.

She was expected to marry a man who came from a rich and elite family just like hers but she said ‘No’ to this life. When she told her parents what she wanted to do in her life, they were flabbergasted. They objected vehemently.

Where her parents saw lowly menial labor, she saw the light in helping the sick.

Regardless of her parent’s objections, she pursued her deepest interest – helping the sick.

In the early 1850s, she took a job as a nurse for ailing governesses in a hospital.

She made it her mission to improve hygiene practices, significantly lowering the death rate at the hospital she worked in the process. This success came at a price. Her health was compromised because of the hard work that took a toll on her.

Even though she took a little rest to recover from her illness, soon after there was a Crimean war and more than 18,000 soldiers had been admitted into military hospitals. This was in 1954.

At the end of the year, she received a letter from Secretary of War Sidney Herbert asking her to organize nurses to tend to the sick and the fallen soldiers.

She got up from her bed and went to her call without wasting even a single day. What she and other nurses saw at the hospital was too horrible. The most basic supplies such as bandages and soap were so scarce that patients were dying from these simple deficiencies. The conditions were so bad that even water was needed to be rationed. More soldiers were dying from infectious diseases like typhoid and cholera than from injuries incurred in the battle.

This woman changed the entire hospital. She cared. She asked everyone to clean the whole hospital from ceiling to floor. She established a clean place where foods can be prepared within the hospital. She established a clean laundry room within the hospital where clothes can be washed.

More importantly, she cared for her patients. Her care healed her patients more than the medicine they were taking. There was no concept of ‘burnout’ in this woman’s mind. She saw a patient, she cared without tiring.

Seeing her empathy, the soldiers called her “The Lady with the Lamp”.

Meaning that she brought light in those unthinkable and horrendous situations.

Others called her “The Angel of the Crimea”.

Meaning that the Crimea war has seen an angel in the form of this brave and compassionate woman.

Her work at the hospital reduced the hospital’s death rate by two-thirds.

After the war, she returned to her country England where the Queen rewarded her work by presenting her with an engraved brooch that came to be known as the “Nightingale Jewel” and by granting her a prize of $250,000 from the British government.

She chose to use the money to further her cause. In 1860, she funded the establishment of St. Thomas Hospital and within it, the Nightingale Training School for Nurses.

By the time she was 38 years old, she was home bound and bedridden and would be so for the remainder of her life.

In spite of that hurdle, she continued her work from her bed.

To this day, this woman is broadly acknowledged and revered as the pioneer of modern nursing.

This woman changed the environment which can be correctly described as “a vast field of suffering and misery” into a place where people are healed.

She also wrote in her spare time.

This woman’s writings sparked worldwide health care reform.

Her name was Florence Nightingale.

My trainees ask me:

“How do I know what my life purpose is?”

My answer is this:

“Sit with yourself in silence and just listen. Listen to what your heart is telling you. Listen to what it is asking you to do. If you place your attention within, you will know what you are supposed to do in your life. You will know what your heart’s desire is. You will know what your life’s work should be. You will have a clear picture of your purpose. By spending time each day listening to your heart’s whisperings, your life’s work takes shape, and you can then begin the journey.”

History remembers Florence Nightingale as “The Lady with the Lamp” and will always do so.

Now, how will history remember you?

Stop searching for your unique gift in the wrong place. Your heart is the only place your gift resides. The only place.

Listen to it.

Because once you find it, you will not be able to stop it from blooming even if you are forced to be bedridden for life just like Florence Nightingale was on her bed and still managed to show her gift to the world.

“We are each gifted in a unique and important way. It is our privilege and our adventure to discover our own special light.” Mary Dunbar

“If you can’t figure out your purpose, figure out your passion. For your passion will lead you right into your purpose.” Bishop T.D. Jakes

“Follow your own passion –Not your parents’, Not your teachers’– Yours.” Robert Ballard

What you and I can learn from the life of Florence Nightingale:

1. Positive attitude. She was able to help many patients through her positive attitude. That helps more than medicine.
2. Commitment. Once she decided what her purpose in life is, she did not diverge from it. Even when she was bedridden, she continued her work till her death.
3. Courage. Where others saw the impossibility of correcting the bad situation in hospitals, she saw what she could do. And then she did improve the situation in spite of the illness that surrounded her. She chose to help the sick when she could have luxury. That is courage under fire.
4. Discipline. Not once did she stay away from her mission in life. Taking care of the sick was her life goal and she did her work every day. That is a remarkable discipline in a young woman.
5. Empathy. It is not only recently that the word ‘empathy’ was shown its effect on human beings. History shows us that because of the empathy she showed her patients, many were healed as a direct result of her empathy. That powerful emotion helped more than medicine.
6. Initiative. She took the initiative to have a better patient care. She took the initiative to have a training center for nurses so that they could care for others in a better way. She took the initiative to clean the hospital from the inside out before anything else –because she has seen that patients were dying more from infectious diseases than anything else.
7. Aspiration. Nightingale was a hero because she did not accept the little care patients were getting. She said ‘No’ to such conditions. She raised the bar. She made it her mission to give the very best care for every one of her patients.

To your inspirations,

Banchi