Commencement

“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” — Annie Dillard

“There never seems to be enough time to do the things you want to do once you find them.” — Jim Croce

A while back we had the honor of attending my younger brother’s graduation from OHSU Medical School in Portland on Friday. It was inspiring in lots of ways, but most the words of one particular speaker were particularly inspiring for me.

He reminded the graduates that Commencement is often observed as a conclusion of an educational milestone — which of course it is. But Commencement actually means to start, or to begin. He reflected that everything that these medical students had experienced in their lives, including their education, was in preparation for what they were about to “Commence”. He also told us a story.
He told us a story about a patient he worked with who had very little hope of surviving an illness, but he and his medical team were able to work together to put the illness in remission so that this young lady not only survived, but was able to live, marry, complete an education and have children. When the illness returned 15 years later, the end was certain and this Doctor and his medical team did what they could to make her and her family comfortable. At 3:30am one morning, the Doctor got a call from the hospital that the end was near and the young lady would probably die soon. He was tired from long shifts and had to be at the hospital at 7:30 anyway, so he debated whether or not he would go back to sleep or go in to the hospital to be with the patient and her family. He asked if he needed to come in, and the Doctor on call said it wasn’t necessary. His heart told him to go the hospital to be with the patient and the family during this critical time of transition, but his mind and body were exhausted, so he stayed home to catch another couple of hours of sleep.

When the Doctor came in to his shift at 7:30am, he went immediately to his patient’s room to find it completely empty. The flowers and cards had been removed, the bed had been remade, the family was gone. His patient had died. He tried to make contact with the family to see what the funeral arrangements were going to be or if he could help in any way. All of his attempts to make contact were unreturned and, to this day, he hasn’t heard anything about the family. He ended the story by saying that his extra 2 hours of sleep has cost him 20 years of anguish at making the wrong decision. I admire this Doctor for sharing a story that didn’t have a happy ending — for the purpose of illuminating a critical concept.
This Doctor was making a plea to the graduates to listen to their hearts and treat the whole person — including the suffering family. To “Commence” to use ALL of their tools — their medical knowledge, their experience, their colleagues and their hearts to be guided to be in the right place and to make the right decisions to best fulfill the oath they were about to take.

To be guided by your heart, you must be ready to listen to it, and follow what it tells you. You are the unique summation of not only your personal knowledge and experience, but that of all those of whom you are able to connect to by being open and transparent. This vast array of resources puts you in a position to “Commence” your next life experience. Being open and awake enough to understand how best to use your gifts and treasures will make your life, and the lives of all the lucky folks who come in to contact with you, richer and fulfilling.

Happy Commencement!

Until next time,

Your friends at Soul Canyon Training & Development
www.soulcanyon.com

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