Dr. Busch

Dr. Busch

Monday, August 30, 2010

The bigger picture...

Have you ever went to a museum that has amazing large paintings or gone to where a large mural is painted? When things are over-sized it is amazing how we can see the details even clearer. Have you ever had a time where you felt you were in a fog and even the thoughts inside your own head weren't clear? Well that is what we tend to call brain fog, and is a neurological condition that we treat every day with amazing results, but that's not the point. (I imagine you love reading the blog of a hyperactive ADD doctor:-) Back to the point: When you look at a over-sized painting you can go up close and even the minute details are not lost in lack of vision, but are clear and concise to see even with the naked eye.

Now picture that this large image is a digital image and that you are but a pixel in the large picture. Many times we may feel small and insignificant, but if you take that beautiful picture and you have a few dozen of the pixels decide that they want to do their own thing and not participate and turn off the picture is obviously not complete. So how do we decide to do our own thing? Is that so bad, yes it can be! In fact when we decide that fulfilling our purpose is not as important as making me feel good right here right now, we sacrifice what great things we can have for the okay things we may be able to experience right now.

So lets put some skin on this, many of want to be a part of something bigger, higher or more noble than the daily grind. So we see ourselves as achieving something of great notoriety and think that this daily task is beneath us or not pursuing our higher calling. Well let's just keep things in perspective and steal a quote from a friend as we were discussing this in an e-mail: "Not everyone was meant to achieve greatness, but enduring difficulty and struggles, and still praising and giving God the glory is what matters most. If you can do that, I am certain in the end he will say 'well done my faithful servant!'" -Dr. Berard.

So we want to achieve this great thing, but we keep our eye on the end result, but making sure we are Faithful in this moment! So what does it mean to be faithful in the moment? Do we call a married man faithful because he was faithful on Tuesday? No, we call him faithful because each and every time he had the opportunity to cheat or be unfaithful, he chose to keep his eye on the commitment he made and do the right thing. Why do we call some people focused, because they have some super-human skill the rest of us doesn't? No, just when the distractions come that don't like up with their goals or values, they chose to follow their values and goals than the thrill of the moment. So with all the bombardment of information and distractions that come our way everyday, how can we possibly keep a eye on the big picture and be faithful in the moment? Well here is list of questions to ask yourself to see if you are being faithful in this moment.

1. What is my assignment? When I am with a patient and treating their health conditions, am I focused on them or me. Are we discussing my day or their health? Am I worrying about billing, staff, family, etc. or am I engaged in this brief moment of time I have to instill health, hope and value into this person. When my son asks me a question am I listening to him or is he a distraction from the television? When my spouse is frustrated, do I look at her heart and help her or just react to her words that come out of frustration that may be negatively directed towards me?

2. What are the possible rewards for being faithful in this moment? If I am faithful in this moment, what great things can come out of it? An opportunity to connect with one of my kids? Express value into a patient who will leave super-satisfied? A student who changes her opinion of herself and makes wiser decisions. There are a lot of positive rewards from being faithful in the moment.

3. What are the possible consequences if I am not faithful to this moment? Now we could go to the nth degree real fast, but keeping it simple the person that perceives you are not really listening to them, the frustration of a child not really listening to them, the student that sees her value in what they allow others to do to her than what is in the inside. I often think of all the people who depend on me to be faithful in every moment, family, staff, students, those I've mentored over the years or just those who look up to me, If I'm the next idiot on the news for doing something stupid, what will that do to them?

4. Is my attitude right? It's not just a matter of doing the right thing, but doing it with the right heart attitude. There is sometimes I have to delay or keep quiet as I have to really keep my attitude in check and not react to the what was said or done. If I loose my cool, I loose, no matter how justified I think I may be in my display of lack of control. People who are watching me and you, won't remember all the great things you've shared with them, but that time you put your foot in your mouth or went bizerk.

5. Does this honor God or my purpose? You don't have to be a believer in God or follower of Christ to get this as our purpose is the result of us following our core values. The values that we have defined as what is the guiding principles in our lives. If we are following those in this moment then we are being faithful, but if we are saying one thing is our our core values and living something else even in this fleeting moment, than we are not being faithful in this moment.

6. What would my mentor / leader / hero do in this moment? You could use any of these or all three. Heroes may be few and far between in today's society. When someone starts to make a name for themselves by many times being faithful in the moment, the media or maybe society wants to find the chinks in the armor or find skeletons to tear this person down. This goes back to who we choose to be our heroes, our mentor, the leaders we choose to lead us. I know it sounds like a WWJD moment, and maybe so, but those who we admire, how would they react or handle themselves in a similar situation, that is what we need to ask.

Take these and one by one, start looking at the times through our day and as some or all of these questions and before long it may be you we are admiring for the amazing character you are displaying.

Until next time...