This is the only Thanksgiving holiday in my memory that I
was not on call for hospital work. Physicians,
like many other folks, are not automatically off on holidays and weekends. I’m not complaining here, but there are times
that I am envious of individuals who are home on every weekend and
holiday. Americans need health care,
law enforcement, and various emergency services even on days of national
leisure. When I am driving to the
hospital on one of those days, I remind myself that the sick person I am headed
to see has a much worse deal than I have.
I have been bestowed with many blessings, and I am grateful
for all of them. Some of them, I may
have earned, while others just fell my way.
Similarly, life’s travails can
result from a bad decision or just bad luck.
Life isn’t fair.
Spread Sunlight
I admire folks who always spy a rainbow through a storm, and I want to be like them. Appreciating one’s lot in life, especially a midst dark days, brings much
light into the world. It becomes a
contagion for good. The opposite
approach becomes a powerful force spreading discontent and unhappiness and has a
wide ripple effect. We've all seen this. There’s a reason
that most of us enjoying spending time with folks who exude sunlight. We don’t all have to be supernovas that can
enlighten the universe, but we can try to spew off enough photons to bring some
light into the world.
Last week, my family converged in New York City to surprise my mother
for a milestone birthday. She was in the
presence of the most important people in the world to her. A week later, I am still in the rarefied aura
of this unforgettable event. I am so thankful for this
incredible blessing.
Let's seek out light and spread some of our own.
President Lincoln's 1863 Thanksgiving Day Proclamation opens with the following sentence.
The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled
with the blessing of fruitful fields and healthful skies.
Remembering what his world was like in 1863, we can agree that this man could see light during the darkest days we ever had. Our gratitude endures.
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