Sunday, May 23, 2010

In The Known

It's a common belief that positive thinking leads to a happier healthier life. As children we are told to smile, be cheerful, and put on a happy face. As adults we are told to look on the bright side, to make lemonade, and see glasses as half full.

Sometimes reality can get in the way of our ability to act the happy part though. Your hope can fail, boyfriends can cheat, friends can disappoint.

It's in these moments, when you just want to get real, drop the act, and be your true scared unhappy self.

Ask most people what they want out of life and the answer is simple - to be happy.

Maybe it's this expectation though of wanting to be happy that just keeps us from ever getting there.

Maybe the more we try to will ourselves to state's of bliss, the more confused we get - to the point where we don't recognize ourselves.

Instead we just keep smiling - trying to be the happy people we wish we were. Until it eventually hits us, it's been there all along.

Not in our dreams or our hopes but in the known, the comfortable, the familiar.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Its Worth The Pain

We live in a world of constant progress and emotion. Stand still for a second and you’ll be left behind. But as hard as we try to move forward, as tempting as it is to never look back, the past always comes back to bite us in the ass. And as history shows us again, and again, those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.

Sometimes the past is something you can’t let go of.

Sometimes the past is something we’ll do anything to forget.

And sometimes we learn something new about the past that changes everything we know about the present.

Medical professionals... we aren’t complacent people. We don’t put our feet up. We don’t sit still. Whatever the game is, we like to win. And once we win, we get a new game. We push ourselves, residents, attendings... it doesn’t matter how much we achieve. If you’re a climber, there’s always another mountain.

All the pictures you ever see of mountain climbers are from the top of the mountain. They are smiling, ecstatic, triumphant. They don’t take pictures along the way because... who wants to remember that?!?!

We push ourselves because we have to, not because we like it. The relentless climb, the pain and anguish of taking it to the next level – nobody takes pictures of that, nobody wants to remember. We just want to remember the view from the top, the breathtaking moment at the edge of the world.

That’s what keeps us climbing and it’s worth the pain, that’s the crazy part.

It’s worth anything.

Have a fabulous time, friend. Travel safe, stay well.