Happy 4th of July to you all!
I think Independence Day naturally makes me think of the gifts I have. Sometimes, we can take the gift of independence and freedom for granted. But when this is threatened -e .g. our time or our resources or our health are taken from us, we start to realize the blessings we truly have.
Something I’ve strived for more and more is protecting my gift of time. When I have control and autonomy over my schedule, I feel so much more free. Of course, you cannot control everything in life. There are things I wish I had more control over, always. But at least having some semblance of control of more of my day brings me more joy and happiness. One way I have done that in the last year is changing jobs.
I am truly grateful for my new opportunity to practice telemedicine. This gives me an interesting new way to develop care to patients. And as an incredible bonus, I am able to work from home. This has freed up a bunch of my energy and time, and mental bandwidth, as it has eliminated a need for a commute.
My new job has also given me more autonomy in setting my schedule so I can juggle my other responsibilities as wife and mom, and so I can take care of me via my hobbies and self care. In turn, I think this has given me a greater sense of that elusive concept pf “Work Life Balance.” I think it is impossible to do multiple things all perfectly, but I think you learn to maximize as much as you can, to get all of your buckets “good enough” so you are happy and functioning.
As I reflect on Independence Day this weekend, I will work on keeping gratitude at the top of my mind. There are so many things we have to be thankful for in the United States. Sure, there are things that could be better – life is never perfect. But I feel we have come very far in the last couple of decades. And in the last 30-40 years, technology has brought many gifts to our society and to our nation. Would you have believed many of us would be carrying a smart phone around, with the power not only to call each other, but also to check the Internet, which contains such a huge wealth of knowledge it is difficult to fathom?
Again, Happy 4th of July and happy Independence weekend. I hope you too can find things to be grateful for. As the next few days go by, I would hope you find some time to reflect on our country’s gift of independence, and the great things our nation has to offer.