A blog is born

I am almost two months into my intern year, and one would hardly think that an intern could find the time to begin a blog. But, I'm a lucky transitional intern who is not only really enjoying the year so far but is happy to find the I have a decent amount of free time on my hands.

Let me skip briefly to last week's sermon at church. Almost 25 years ago, the speaker sat down and estimated the number of days he would have left on earth should he live to be 70. Every day since, he has been writing that ever decreasing number at the top of the page of his day planner. A good reminder that our time here is finite, and that in actuality each day that we live is one day closer to death. Not trying to be morbid here, but the point he was making was once stated by Wesley I believe- that we need not live hurried lives, but that we live with a sense of haste.

So what's my point? I don't want to waste my time this year watching too much boring and meaningless tv (this does NOT include grey's or idol) or taking 3 hour naps. I don't want to read back on old journals or prayers one year later to find that I'm in the exact same place. There's certainly a place for leisure and naps and the gym and grey's, but there's no place for stagnation, regrets on how I used the time I was given, or an unexamined life.

I'm not insinuating that this blog is the new best use of my time, but it's one of several changes I'm making to encourage myself to be more reflective and thoughtful, to slow myself down enough to jot down some of the things I may be thinking about, strugggling with, learning, reading. All of those good things plus trying to be cool like the rest of you bloggers and keeping in touch with friends and family!

I'm on a 4 week anesthesia rotation right now, and this is high on my list of best rotations ever. It's been fun learning how to intubate, I get to watch cool surgeries, the rotation has great hours, has a negative value on the stress scale, the anesthesiologists are great fun, AND.... I got to amputate a big toe and a leg! What a rush! I can totally see why people go into surgery. I love the OR. I told one of the anesthesiologists that I was starting a blog. He asked me why and I told him to write about my deep thoughts. He laughed at me.

Well, that's 5 paragraphs, probably sufficient for my first post. I enjoy checking in on those of you with blogs and I hope that all who read here will be cheered, stirred to think, entertained, and get a few good laughs out of mine.