Enjoy the Journey
Expand Your Relationships and Knowledge
Be Flexible
with a chronic illness , on the day of my diagnosis I told my wife that this was my lucky day . I told her , “ I will now correct my weight , which will cause my diabetes to improve , and I will be healthier overall ."
And that is exactly what happened . If I had a different approach to life , I might have become despondent , and wished that I hadn ’ t become obese because of my choices when I was younger . Instead , I found the open door that led to a better life .
Enjoy the Journey
Every day of our lives gives us an opportunity to be successful , e . g ., through personal growth by becoming more knowledgeable or dealing with adversity well , and through helping others . When we learn to appreciate our accomplishments every day , we can feel lucky , rather than lamenting that we have not reached a particular goal . Poet Ralph Waldo Emerson captured this notion when he said , “ Life is a journey , not a destination .”
Expand Your Relationships and Knowledge
By expanding our bases of relationships and knowledge we can be exposed to more opportunities for “ lucky breaks .” One way to expand relationships is to be kind to others . One way to expand relationships is to be kind to others . When you do so , people generally are kind in return . In other words , following the Golden Rule of “ Treat others as you ’ d like to be treated ” helps increase your chances of meeting someone who can lead you in a good direction .
For example , when I was applying for residency programs af‐ ter medical school , I ran into a friend in front of the main cam‐ pus hospital . I had first met this friend when I helped develop a phone contact list for my classmates . In response to his question in front of the hospital , I told him I had applied to the top pediatric program in each of a few major East Coast cities .
He suggested that I add the pediatric program at Boston ’ s Massachusetts General Hospital ( MGH ) to my list , even though I had already applied to the Children ’ s Hospital of Boston . I thought to myself , why not ? I ended up matching at MGH ( where I thrived ) because I happened to run into some‐ one I had met through my school .
Be Flexible
Throughout our lives we are presented with many opportunities to change course and potentially improve our lot . However , often we choose to remain