Looking back, not forward
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I just received the latest edition of AARP The Magazine (for millennials, AARP stands for American Association of Retired Persons).
AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with a membership of more than 38 million. Although I am not retired, I have been a member for several years.
The magazine breaks down complex issues in simple terms. Topics include choosing Medicare plans, exercises that help keep you healthy without having to run a marathon, and avoiding financial scams.
The October-November issue even had an article about innovative treatments for diabetes, breast cancer, heart disease, lung disease and other conditions. These articles are easier to read, at least for a simple surgeon like me, than trying to get through “Epigenetic Therapies for Cancer,” a review article that appeared in August in The New England Journal of Medicine.
The latest issue of the magazine features a photo of Bruce Springsteen on the cover (for millennials, Bruce Springsteen is a rock ‘n’ roll icon). The cover story looked back on 50 years of his work.
Springsteen turned 71 in September. Amazingly, he continues to write songs and, according to the article, his new record, Letter to You, is an album of “powerful moving and elegiac rock music that takes up the great mysteries of life and death as only Springsteen can pull off.”
In 2016 in Philadelphia, Springsteen played his longest U.S. show — at 4 hours and 4 minutes — and then outside of Boston, he nearly topped that. Four hours is unheard of for any music concert.
Not only is he a songwriter, he also is the author of a critically acclaimed memoir he converted into the one-man show Springsteen on Broadway.
As I read through the Springsteen article that looked back on both his professional and private life, I realized that I often look back at my private life and golden moments, such as family outings, a fantastic family vacation during the summer or my daughters’ college graduations. The latter includes memories of feasting on Anchor Bar buffalo wings prior to the ceremony.
Having said all of this, rarely have I looked back at my professional life. I believe the reason for that is, as physicians — especially in an academic environment — we are always looking forward. We look to create new programs to improve the care of our patients, or to improve the surgical and medical education of medical students, residents and fellows, or to develop incentive metrics about quality and productivity.
Because of the busy nature of our daily schedules, it is my impression that we rarely have time to look back on our professional careers. And, if we do have time, we may be too tired to do so.
Perhaps the only time we have to look back is when we finally retire.
Yet, as the father of one of my brother-in-law’s once told him, “There is no such thing as golden years, but only golden moments.” I thought that was a provocative statement. I can think of many golden moments in my professional career. I won’t bore you with a description of them, but I’m sure you have them in your own careers. The question is, when was the last time you looked back to examine those golden moments in your professional career?
I know what you are thinking. Golden moments are related to your private life because once your time on this planet ends, the numerous peer-reviewed manuscripts, visiting professorships, accolades and awards will soon be forgotten, but the family you leave behind will remember you until their time on the planet comes to an end. I believe that is correct, but there is also enjoyment in looking back on those professional golden moments.
As the holidays come around this year, there will be time to look back on our professional careers. Let’s face it, COVID-19 is not going to allow the large family gatherings that normally occur around the holidays, and rightly so. In my own family, I’m used to 20 or more family members sitting down for the Feast of the Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve, enjoying great food and wine and telling family stories. Each year the stories seem to get more interesting, probably because of the wine.
This year, because of the second wave of COVID-19, the dinner will be with only my wife and Sophie, our rescue dog. It won’t be the same, but it will give me time to look back on my professional career and enjoy some of those golden moments.
I hope you will do the same. Have great holidays and please stay safe. Let’s hope for a safer 2021.
References:
Bates SE. N Engl J Med. 2020;doi:10.1056/NEJMra1805035.
Love R. AARP The Magazine. “Bruce Springsteen’s Powerful Return to Rock” p. 35. October/November 2020.