What Should I Do With My Life?

That's literally the name of the book I'm reading now. You'd think that after completing medical school and residency I'd have an idea about what I should be doing, but it appears life is pulling me in a new direction. Or many different directions at the same time.

via Amazon

That's why I'm reading this book. It's fascinating. It's not about taking a quiz and aligning your character traits with some pre-conceived matrices for career success. It's about understanding the process by which people find fulfillment, inter-connectedness through their work. It also emphasizes that word "should," which implies a moral obligation, instead of "want," which is more about being led by fleeting desire(s). My interest in all of this was born partly out of necessity: "What will I do if my disease doesn't calm down and I can't work in a traditional sense?" And also by intrigue, "What does it mean if I'm continually drawn to integrative healing practices? I'm out of my safety zone!"

In order to study what I should be doing, I've had to take stock of my life and face a few inner demons. I've also had to accept that there are some marvelous things inherent to my divine nature and my story. It's not that I had one great epiphany, but over time I've had spurts of insight and gradual revelations that paint a clearer picture of what I could be doing, and it's different from what I would have supposed just a few years ago.

An important experience I had in my journey came with a memorable patient I had in the hospital. She was there for some orthopedic issue and I was the admitting physician on the rehabilitation floor. I noted that ulcerative colitis was listed on her past medical history and was curious to know how she was doing with it. She was a middle-aged African-American woman who sweetly replied, "Oh, I took care of that."

As you can imagine, I was eager to know how she apparently put her ulcerative colitis (UC) into remission for good. I asked her to tell me more and I confessed that this was for both professional and personal reasons. She was more than happy to share her story. Mrs. B, as I will call her, went on to explain that after she was diagnosed with this terrible disease she took the matter to prayer. One day, after a mighty petition to the Lord to save her colon, Montel Williams spoke to her. By TV. About a blender.

Mrs. B was convinced she could heal her colon by doing word-for-word what Montel and a Nutribullet recipe guide she found online instructed. This was no easy feat. Like so many African-Americans living where I practice she was of humble means with limited access to "fancy foods" (read: nutritious). Nevertheless, Mrs. B approached this endeavor with diligence. Each month she'd put away a little bit of money until she had enough to afford a nice blender. When the day came and she made her purchase she was both overjoyed and overwhelmed. "Golgi berry? What on earth?!" Hearing Mrs. B talk about her quest to find "dem golgi berries" in a food desert outside Chicago gave me visions of her scaling the Himlayan mountains from which they originate. I was impressed! More important, she was healed. After a few months of drinking her smoothies, Mrs. B's ulcerative colitis went into remission. She thanked God.

Mrs. B's story touched me on many levels. I, too, believe in moving forward with faith. I myself grew up in a food desert and my heart aches for those who suffer from disease because of poor access to fundamental things like fruits and veggies. I find hope in her success. I want to be a champion over my disease and help others do the same.

Social justice. Power through nutrition. Agency in health. All those things speak to me. So, what do I do with that?

On a local level, I'd LOVE to get involved with this organization: Growing Home. - Go ahead and read about it, it'll pump you up, too! Looking not-so-across the sea, my heart always turns to where my father was born: Puerto Rico. My people there are truly living in a tropical paradise, but fertile soil is being covered with McDonald's and Burger Kings. Oh, the good that would come both from a health & wellness standpoint and an economic one if Puerto Rico were to promote its rich agricultural power. And, yes, I'm hatching a plan to realize that dream for the island. . . Finally, on an even broader level, I'd like to form a comprehensive, helpful wellness website for those with limited resources. This will require more studying up on nutrition, obtaining a mentor, and increasing my fluency with web design.

The prospect of everything I just mentioned seems daunting, but in studying What I Should Do With My Life, I see it's a good sign that I feel energized by all of this. A very good sign.