“I don’t care how well you can do on paper if you don’t know what you’re doing in practice. That’s just historical knowledge and quaint recitation.”
That’s what she said.
My new (and quickly climbing the ranks to one of my favorite) physicians.
She was talking to a medical student who was observing her for the week. After hearing a couple of unanswered or incorrectly answered questions, she was responding to the false sense of success students can have when performing well on exams, while freezing or being inadequately prepared in real life.
As some of my friends would say “That’ll preach”.
And, I’ve been pondering this all day.
How do I look good on paper? What goals are recorded or to-do lists written that look great in theory, but drown in the mud of unproductiveness and waste?
What dreams are posted that friends glance at in passing – smiling and nodding, but that sit unfulfilled?
What heart changes, character issues, sins, or detrimental habits lie untouched and accepted because the idea of being different looks good on paper, but the doing is just too much work.
An even bigger question is WHO is missing out, left hanging or suffering because of it?
Spouse? Children? Family? Friends? The world?
Yesterday was the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. What if his ideas never left paper? What if equality was a dream, but he never fought for it, stood up for it, worked towards it? How would generations have been affected?
So today, I’m picking one thing – just one for now – to get off of paper and put into practice. I’m writing (ironically). Regularly. Time for me to climb out of the mud.
What goal do you need to work towards? What habit have you ignored? What void are you supposed to fill that is currently a gaping hole? Figure it out. Then. Join me?!
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