I’ve never been appreciative of how precious time is in our short lives. How blessed we are to have each day. Recently, with my husband working a shift that keeps him from me and our children four days a week I’ve found greater value in time. I’ve been putting a lot of thought into exactly how I spend my time. What activities I want to do, what goals to spend time on and with whom I want my time spent. Ofcourse, my family is number one. However, I spend a large amount of my time working. A great deal of my life is spent with the people I work with and my patients. I love my patients. However, what originally drew me to Dermatology is the team at Johnson Dermatology. The teamwork practiced at JD is unheard of in the medical field and the caring hearts found in that clinic are unfortunately a dying bread in hospitals I’ve worked before. But what the true rarity is at that clinic is the leadership. Dr. Sandy makes me believe in the good in this world and in healthcare generally. She gives me an environment where caring for patients comes before meeting quotas, where taking care of employees comes before taking care of herself and where everyone feels motivated to be better. She worries from a sincere heart. When she sees me under stress, she helps without asking. Which is why she wrote a blog post for me (Thank You SJ). She reminds me why I want to spend a great deal of my precious time investing in and working at Johnson Dermatology. I know you all will enjoy her post as much as I did. Cheers.
From Dr. Sandy:
I know better than to worry. I know to let go and let God. However, I do worry. I worry about a lot of things. As a mom, wife, daughter, sister, friend, doctor, business owner, etc…I worry a lot. I have a lot to worry about in life (or so I think). Funny thing is that there are things I don’t worry about in life. Those are the things that end up getting the best of me and about which I should have worried.
Take this spring break for example. My family and I left the clinic to go skiing. I was worried about the logistics of travel. I was worried about us getting hurt skiing. I was worried about leaving the clinic….although I know the clinic is in good hands. I was worried about Honey’s maternity leave and new baby. I was worried about Dr Nelson and his wife having their baby. I was worried about Nina being the only provider in the clinic…although I know she could handle it. I worried about a lot of things. However I did not worry about our leisure bike ride at our destination before our ski trip. Well BAM! … just imagine…perfect day…family happy and sun protected…enjoying our ride…BAM! A woman stops her bike right in front of (Dr.) Brad. He flies over the handlebars and lands very awkwardly. BAM! He looks nauseated but shakes it off and walks his bike back to the store. He drives us to our destination then tells me he thinks he may want to go to see if he broke his arm. WHAT? BAM!!! We leave the kids at the hotel (not worrying or thinking about them eating dinner) and he and I head to the Emergency Department. Of course if you know me you know I don’t like waiting (which is why we try to see patients within 20 minutes of their appointment at our clinic). Well this ER had 3 (yes 3) “waiting rooms”. It was like a Disney ride. Just when you think you are at the front of the line…..you move to a different line to wait longer and worry more. Turns out he did break some bones. He did get to ski some and our family is having a great time. We have 3 more days left of our vacation so I am still worried about our safety and getting home.
While we are away, some unusual activities occurred at the clinic; but our team is handling them well (big thank you to our clinic manager Shelly). Dr Nelson and his wife Ashley had a beautiful healthy baby boy (check out the pictures on our social media). Honey and her family are doing great and she has started seeing patients. Nina did have to handle some extra work but she worked diligently and survived. Nina’s work in the ICU and ER and inner cities has paid dividends.
What will happen next? I don’t know. I will try to worry less and enjoy more. After all, like the old English proverb states… “worrying is like sitting in a rocking chair….it gives you something to do but it doesn’t get you anywhere”. Since we already mentioned Disney, I should also try to follow the advice of Walt…”Why worry? If you have done the very best you can then worrying won’t make it any better”.
So my spring time resolution is to get out of the rocking chair, use sun protection and start moving. I hope you will join me but I will try not to worry about you. Stay skintastic.
