Attachment

When you're throat's parched and words seem to dry up; when your eyes well up but you'd rather not cry; when you know you've got to be that pillar of strength which never gives way; how do you let yourself feel and yet be stoic; how do you show empathy and not die in pain; how do you show you care? The challenge is not about caring enough; it's about letting your heart feel that tug but not your tear glands; it's about giving it all you've got without losing your head; it's about doing the right thing over and over again without feeling that extra sense of pride; it's about remembering every step of the way that you're not great because of what you do but because of what you've been chosen to do for the people who matter the most; it's about doing your job and being humble about it for you've been blessed and it's time to share that blessing.
Being a physician can sometimes make you don a mantle of detachment. I don't think it's detachment which keeps us sane; it's attachment; it's that attachment to our patients which makes us go that extra mile every time we think we maybe fighting a losing battle and it's the same attachment which makes us want to provide a dignified death as much as a dignified life. It's that attachment which drives all research and the same attachment which makes us thirst for knowledge insatiable. I pray that I may never lose that attachment; I pray that I may be humble; I pray that I may give without wanting and work like I was meant to now and always.