Florence Nightingale – Let us Remember that Love is Contagious…

It has been a week of crazy media reports, social isolation and economic destruction. One can’t deny the feelings of powerlessness and fear that surges through our body every time we switch on the TV. Whether we’re on the front line or sitting at home – crippling fear is something we all have to transcend if we want to give out immune systems the support it needs to be our ‘first line of defence’…

We have to find the light amidst the darkness. In essence, we have to become the light ourselves.

Florence Nightingale did that. She became the light and in doing so she brought light to those around her who were suffering the most. She understood 

‘How very little can be done under the spirit of fear. I am of certain convinced that the greatest heroes are those who do their duty in the daily grind of domestic affairs whilst the world whirls as a maddening dreidel.’

And she was absolutely right – fear is debilitating if we let it consume us. Florence understood this to her core and as a result, she was able to transcend mass hysteria and remain centred in adversity. That is what made her such an incredible nurse and so successful in treating her patients. 

I’ve spent a few days pondering the soul of Florence Nightingale – no surprises then that I woke up one morning to discover that a new temporary hospital has been set up in London called ‘NHS Nightingale’. There are no coincidences and many years later the spirit of this courageous pioneer of modern-day nursing, lives on…

It is my only hope that with her name up in the headlines again that her way of caring is remembered too – the way she tended to the needs of a whole person rather than just their symptoms.

Medicine has evolved tenfold since her time, but while her principles on hygiene underpin modern-day medicine, her optimism, compassion and love rendered her equally successful.

Our choice is to either be a host to Love or a hostage to our fears. We have a collective responsibility to put some positive energy into the world, to give Love momentum so that humanity can reach a new level of potential. To approach each day with a heart full of love, reduce the stress hormones that shut down the immune system and remember that we are so much more powerful than we think…

Florence Nightingale certainly believed that – she was in tune with her innate power and referred to her God as an ‘indwelling spirit of perfection’ and could be found in the heart of every person: –

‘Look for his thought, his feeling, his purpose; in a word, his spirit within you, without, behind you, before you. It is indeed omnipresent. Work your true work and you will find his presence in yourself’.

And so, Florence Nightingale’s legacy lives on –  may we have the faith and strength to honour her tenacity, make her proud and remind ‘our keyworkers’ that 

 

LOVE IS CONTAGIOUS…