Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Are You Here?


--by beastly, posted Sep 26, 2007
This story was told to me by my roommate's father, who is a retired vascular surgeon.

In discussing the ups and downs of life, he mentioned how he sometimes got caught up in the hectic nature of the schedule and forget the larger idea that he was not the 'do-er'.  One such period was a time that he described as a career highlight, when he performed 3 successful ruptured aneurysm procedures in a 24 hr span (a trifecta rarely seen in the medical profession). 

He described the subsequent period as one of a euphoric high that left him simply doing the work required as a doctor but not being "there".  After treating one such elderly patient during this period, the elderly gentleman told the doctor to sit down. He said 'you've been running around here like a zombie the past several days. I wonder if you actually stop to enjoy the process of your life.' 

It turned out that this elderly patient was a retired Ob-Gyn with an amazing string of successes of his own. He told my roommate's father that he himself performed his duties like a machine, only later realizing the error he was making. Looking the younger doctor in the eye, he said 'all the money I made as a doctor in my life...I'd give it all up for the right to have that time back so I could actually BE THERE, instead of as the robot I was.'

This story profoundly affected the life of my roommate's father. He immediately cut back his work schedule to provide more individual attention to each patient, and changed his focus to include recognizing the beauty of the moment and the process.

It was an honor for me to hear such a story for him, and I just had to share it with this community.
 
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Readers Comments

brighteyes wrote: Beastly....it is a wonderful story....an eye opener....and can apply to any of us they are more work focused than life focused....as the saying goes, we can't take it with you...all the material things....its our relationships and love that stand the test of time and never end.

Thanks for sharing....have a wonderful day...looking forward to your next story.

Smiles from Brighteyes ;)
MakeSomeoneSmile wrote: What a great story. I think that is true with anything in life, especially a job. You can always get another job but you can never get back time you have squandered. Thanks for sharing!
adityap1984 wrote: Yea DAts nice..One does need to njoi the little things in life..
lovebug wrote: It is, all about the moment, so quick to pass and never to be regained.
AURELIA wrote: Just Like the Movie "Jerry Maguire". It is wonderful the talents people have and how they change others lives. It would be wonderful if Time was at the top of the list of gifts to give. ~Aurelia
Shriraj wrote: There's been so much crazy stuff going on in the world,sometimes it's easy to forget about what's really important.

The turmoil that invariably enters each of our lives is far outweighed by the brief moments of perfection.

That was indeed an eye-opener ...

Thank you so much for sharing with us .

God bless..
ieiblue wrote: thank you for sharing this...hahahaha.. it just makes me wish to really go home.. i just can't for now... :p

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