Living life – Page 35 – Physician In Numbers

Giving Thanks

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I plan to enjoy myself with my family, eating (too) well and likely failing to keep up with the younger generation.

I feel very fortunate to be able to spend time with my parents, siblings, niblings. We are all healthy, and out of the hospital. We have plenty to eat, can take time off for the holiday, and are able to travel to see each other. As I wrote about last year, I feel quite rich, even if numbers in the bank might tell me I am “comfortable.”

I hope you enjoy your day tomorrow, and feel that you have much to be thankful for as well.

Win By Walking

This weekend I finished several weeks of ~~durance vile~~ hospital wards, supervising residents and students, teaching, and taking care of clinic work. This is a hard stretch of service, with long hours and little time off; many things (exercise, tidying, socializing, reading) get left by the wayside. However, it is this time that allows me lighter hours when I am only working in the office.

Though I still had work to do, I woke up my first free day feeling the need to Do.All.The.Things. Or at least work on my goals.

Wednesday Wool-gathering 4

A few random thoughts, inspired by my recent rotation through the hospital wards.

Slowing Down

Alas, I am not announcing that I am slowing down at work to focus on the blog. In fact, it is quite the opposite.

7 Good Things

Sometimes I feel like I’m writing about things that aren’t going as well as I might hope. Or I am wrestling with problems I haven’t figured out yet.

Today (I’m writing on a Saturday), I had a surprisingly lovely morning. I didn’t have to travel far, and it didn’t cost much. As I reflected further, I realized I had a pretty good week, and maybe it’s worth remembering that and figuring out how to enjoy more of what I already have.

Becoming a Breadwinner

One of the toughest financial transitions I have made over the years was becoming a breadwinner for a family.

A Hierarchy of Activities

Much like Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, or Maimonides’ hierarchy of charitable giving, I find there is a hierarchy of activities I do in my time off. I had the opportunity to engage in many of them during my week at home:

Lessons Learned During My Staycation

I recently enjoyed some time off. After my deliberations a few months ago, followed by an exhausting road trip, I decided this time to stay home for a week. Nine days at home without having to go to work represented an experience I haven’t had for years. I found it educational.

Re-entry

There’s an old joke about a man in the golf club locker room, hitting his head against the wall. Another man asks him, “Ron, why are you hitting your head against the wall?” And Ron answers, “because it feels so good when I stop.”

Errands Day

At the end of my short vacation, I had one day at home. I used it to run errands! I can’t say how excited I was to have an unscheduled day to attack all the loose ends at home. I suspect I wouldn’t have been so excited if I had the time to run errands and do house work every day.

As it is, I did plenty:

had a slow morning with coffee and my computer.
ironed some wrinkly pants.
ordered more checks. This has been on my to-do list for several months, and I’ve been worried I would run out before I got around to ordering them.
send in my passport for renewal.
arranged to frame a photo, which had come from Shutterfly a year ago. The orange package had been sitting on my desk for a year.
noticed that a local jewelry store advertises that it does repairs. On my next day off, I can bring some pieces that need help.
went to the bank to put papers in the safety deposit box.
bought a birthday present for a good friend.
walked home.

I think we are having a true staycation next month. I hope to enjoy a few more days of errand-clearing then.

Do you get satisfaction from clearing your to-do list? Or do you consider this a waste of a free day?