The Good Doctor
December 08, 2009
As you may know, my wife recently suffered from a torn retina in her right eye. This happens as the gel in her eyeball condensed every so slightly with age. As it (her eyeball) gets just a wee bit smaller, it can take part or all of a retina with it, thus creating blindness that can be fixed with laser or other surgery. That is what happened to her; it was not the result of some accident or blow to the head. Fortunately, my wife's was fixable with laser and she is patiently waiting to recover sight in her eye.
When we took her to the hospital, she was examined by four doctors, who all said that there was bleeding in the back of the eye, preventing them from getting a good view of the retina. We took her to a specialist the next day, one of the best in the world we are told, and he did his own examination. He confidently said that the retina was torn but that he did not want to do surgery. He asked her to come back in two days, at which time he saw well enough to do laser repairs. He sent her home with a scheduled appointment to come back in two weeks.
Why am I telling you this? I am relating this because I was impressed with our doctor and want to be one just like him. Do I want to be an eye doctor? No, but I do want to be a purpose doctor. What's more, I want to be one that is so proficient and effective that, when others can't see purpose, I can and then help them see it too. I want others to have confidence in me when they visit for a consultation, and then I want to act confidently and quickly to diagnose the root problem and prescribe the way forward.
I have met with about 3,000 people in the last nine years to discuss purpose. I have written and read extensively on the subject. Some experts believe that if anyone invests 10,000 hours in any subject or field, that person has put in the time to become an expert of sorts. I want to be a purpose expert for God's glory and help people quickly and confidently embrace purpose.
There are many good things that emerged from my wife's injury, not the least of which has been our son coming home for a season to help care for mom. It has slowed us down as we approach the holidays and made us thankful for the blessings of life, like sight and family. At the same time, my encounter with our good doctor has stimulated me to pay the price to be a good doctor in my own field of expertise. What is your field? Are you wiling to pay the price to be great, to be the best? Success is never an accident and I thank God my doctor paid the price, for my family was the recipient of his hard work. Who will be the recipient of yours?