Addiction is an experience. It is the experience of habitually trying in vain to meet a need with substitutes; or grasping to meet an imagined need. I think when I acknowledge such experiences I am more likely to gain the needed perspectives to see things as they truly are.
Today she came to my office not for herself but to help her sister who just had a newborn and needed to see me. She told me she is now working as counselor for others who are experiencing problem with addictions. She shared with me that she can now see how her personal experience with addiction resulted in her compassion for others. She felt that her work to help others is not merely a job but more a way to be and a way of life.
I don’t think I have all the words to fully express such miracles which I have the privilege to witness and learn from as a family physician. I do think of my work as not merely a job but a series opportunities to learn and authentically share perspectives with individuals in their moments of need and openness.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
On the topic of polyamory
When your parrot falls in love, it's called polyamorous; When you play games with your parrot, it's called polygamous; When your p...
-
10 questions I’d like to ask each of my patient after each visit. A score out of 100 may be informative of necessary changes to current in...
-
I am grateful for this feedback from one of my patient. “ Just a note: Every one of these informative emails you circulate to your pati...
-
Recently, one of my children was diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease and a nephew with psoriasis. We are Chinese. 30 years ago, I w...
-
Whether I am in my office or in the emergency department, patient motivated by their sufferings, makes great efforts to present with honesty...
-
To experience is to be alive. To be alive is breathing, drinking, eating, seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, feeling, loving, exploring, l...
-
Residents I look after at the retirement homes are being started on prophylactic antivirals due to inflenza outbreaks. I wondered, other th...
-
Thats an incentive spirometer. It’s meant to encourage patients bedridden to fill the lungs fully with air periodically to prevent atelect...
-
I went to make a housecall to see a bedbound lady with rash in the deep fold under her breasts. Her son who takes exemplary care of her has...
-
A participant new to meditation. Broke up the session to two halves for the newcomer. The first segment seemed slightly longer than the s...
-
I love my “work”. It is a pleasure for me to interact with people I consider to be no different than my friends. Patients ask me when I am ...
No comments:
Post a Comment