Life is Fragile. 

Today, Match on a Fire:  Medicine and More is going to do something a little different.  We are going to focus on the “more.”  We are talking about Fragile:  Beauty in Chaos, Grace in Tragedy and the Hope that Lives in Between.

A mom puts her child to bed with a cold and in the morning he won’t wake up.  A man goes to work and has no idea his chainsaw blade it going to kick back through his chest.  A simple headache slowly worsens and finally, when she finally decides to have it evaluated, the MRI looks like a dime store nickel machine filled with tumor gumballs.   Or, so suddenly, a pandemic takes over the world and our “normal” life is not so normal.

I started medical school ready to be in the thick of it.  I was cocky, motivated and unstoppable.  I had watched ER on TV, shadowed family friends in the hospital and read all the latest and greatest books on being a doctor.  I thought I was going in with my eyes wide open.

I had no clue.  I thought the hard part of medicine was going to be learning all the material, programming all the facts, procedures and protocols into my neuroanatomy.  I wish.  No doubt that was difficult, like drinking from a fire hydrant, but it paled in comparison to the challenge of working so closely with life and death. 

I was forced to hold the hand of those facing relentless disease and the limitations of my abilities as a doctor.  This wasn’t just a job.  It really was life and death.  Talk about wandering into the hurt cave with no flashlight, I was at a loss. 

Little did I know this was the very place I had to go to really find my true soul.  Something started to happen to me in the depths of my own emotional torture chamber.  I stopped focusing so much on “why.”  Why was there so much suffering?  Why was I so hurt and lonely?  Why am I so worried about me, especially in the face of what I see?  Slowly I began to see life differently.  I began to take in, I mean really take in, the things around me that meant the most:  my kids, my family, my friends.  I stopped worrying about the “why.” I took the time to breath and it felt good.

We only have one life to live, but if we do it right, one life might just be enough.

BE YOUR BEST — TODAY!

BE YOUR BEST — TODAY!

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