Physicians, like writers, talk about routines and habits. I’m a fan of Sir William Osler’s essays. His essay “Aequanimitas” describes something close to religion for me.
Osler, who taught medical students, shared all kinds of small habits and routines. He kept a small notebook in his pocket and never saw a patient without pulling it out. The small habit reminded the doctor that he was there to observe and listen. The habit told the patient that the doctor cared.
The basic bit of advice in “A Way of Life”: Live your life in 24-hour increments. You will have great triumphs and unspeakable lows. Bear the burdens of the day without too much celebration when things go splendidly or too much lamentation when things go disastrously. Above all, try not to let the elation or the gloom of one day leak into the next. Don’t let the past day steal from the day in front of you.
• Sources: Sir William Osler, Osler’s ‘A Way of Life’ & Other Addresses with Commentary & Annotations, edited by Shigeaki Hinoshara and Hisae Niki; Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2001. Osler’s Aequanimitas; Philadelphia: P. Blakiston’s Son & Co., 1914 is online here:
https://ia600904.us.archive.org/8/items/2aequanimitaswit00osleuoft/2aequanimitaswit00osleuoft.pdf
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