They Never Talk About Working More
At a party decades ago, I met an oncologist. In the conversation, I was whining about my job as the General Manager of a medical software company. I understood achieving it before I was 34 was something I had thought I wanted. However, it did not really seem worth it.
He said to me, “You are not wrong. I am a cancer doctor. I tell people they are going to die. Not one time in the many times I have had to do that has ANYONE ever said to me, ‘Doc I wish I had worked more.’ They all say they wish they had spent more time with their family and doing things that they loved.”
He said it matter-of-factly. The ring of truth was in his words and in his eyes. Most people told me to stop whining when I would bemoan the drama and burdens of working a day to day salaried job. The doctor’s surprising response has stuck with me. I have lived the whole rest of my life understanding the truth shared with me during a happenstance party conversation.
I have learned to not whine about the choices I have made. I have learned that my job does not define me. I have made many monetary sacrifices to be true to the insight the oncologist shared with me. He told me with such conviction, I could not ignore it. The conviction of one who knows an uncomfortable truth for sure is a powerful thing.
