Waiting Well

A physician waiting more than two hours in a doctor's waiting room – poetic justice, some would say. For me, the result was annoyance followed by agitation and then anger. I am not inclined to wait well. Just think of the praying and meditating, the...

Competing,Comparing,Condemning

Athletic competition can bring great delight to my heart. A football game won in the last seconds or a round of golf decided on the last hole breathes energy into me. A natural progression of thought during competition is comparison. I might compare two basketball...

Trained to hear

Do you remember the story of the Cherokee Indian walking down 5th Avenue in Manhattan with a New York businessman? Suddenly the Indian stopped and said, "Did you hear that?" The business man asked, "Hear what?" "That cricket" replied the...

Staying Focused

The hustle and chaos of the emergency department – telephone calls, ambulance reports, laboratory tests and nurse's requests – could, at times, divert my attention from the critical to the less important. When attending to details in the emergency...