A Newspaper Epiphany

Three decades ago, I burned myself out trying to keep up with all the brilliant doctors at Duke
University Medical Center. I was stagnant, frustrated, and apathetic. I felt like the student when
the teacher asked, “Johnny, what’s apathy?” Johnny answered, “I don’t know, and I don’t care.”

One Sunday morning, I dragged myself out of bed to go jogging. The misty, cold day reinforced my
gloomy spirits. As I plodded along, head down, barely putting one foot in front of the other, the
driver delivering the early morning paper hit me full in the chest with the Sunday edition. I looked
around. There was no reason to toss a paper in that place in the road: there were no houses
around, but for some unexplained reason this stranger tossed a paper that struck me…hard,
stunning me.

It was then that I decided to make a change. That errantly tossed paper made me understand that
I must do something different. I realized that cultivating my misery was getting me nowhere. I
began looking for new opportunities. A few months later, we returned to Texas where some very
positive changes began.

Sometimes we have to be hit hard to make changes. It’s much easier to continue making the same
mistakes, plod along using the same inefficient methods, and stay in the old familiar rut. But to be
refreshed, we must look for new opportunities, unique ideas, and different behavior patterns.

Burned out? Tired? Frustrated? Bored? Stagnant? Apathetic? If so, take the time to consider what
three changes you want to make about your life. Write the changes down. Begin making those
changes. Now. If not, the Sunday edition might smack you in the chest.