IT IS TRULY A WONDERFUL LIFE
This morning I woke up and realized that the cold I’ve been fighting for the past three days is almost gone. This is nothing short of miraculous. I am familiar with this particular strain of cold, because my husband had it for approximately three weeks.
Then it occurred to me that I was using a remedy prescribed by our family doctor over ten years ago when I had the flu.
At the time, Art and I had just moved to Tennessee from California. Our California doctor (I’ll call him Dr. E) was now living in another state entirely. But he was the only doctor we had found with whom we had a strong rapport. This doctor was not only an M.D., but also practiced Eastern medicine and homeopathy. He only resorted to Western medicine when all else had failed. Furthermore, he was the only doctor we had ever known who always returned our calls the same day, even if he had to call at 10:00 at night. Dr. E. was truly compassionate and caring. He shared a little of himself with every patient, and thus made everyone feel they were getting personal attention. I honestly don’t know how he did it.
Another thing we appreciated about Dr. E. was that he didn’t seem very concerned about amassing a fortune by prescribing expensive pills and potions sold out of his office. On the contrary, he often would give us small samples of homeopathic remedies so that we could try them out. Then he would tell us which drug stores sold that particular type of remedy. Nine times out of ten, we didn’t need to use Western medicine at all. Dr. E. believed in using the most conservative means possible to achieve health. He believed you could help yourself a lot with sound nutrition. It’s not an exaggeration to say that we loved our family doctor. So when I came down with a miserable case of flu in Tennessee, I made a long-distance call to Dr. E.
Well, Dr. E., I remembered your exact prescription and general advice, and I’ve been taking it ever since for flu and cold-like symptoms. My fever is gone and the congestion and coughing are at least fifty percent better as of this morning. This is at a stage in the progression of the common cold when you would expect the little devil to just be revving up!
The point is – Maybe we’ve all made big differences in other people’s lives without knowing it. Any time you think your life is unimportant, or that you don’t know what purpose you serve, think of this. I was just one of a parade of many, many people who passed through Dr. E’s life. He may not even remember this particular call. And unless I am able to find his address again, he may never read this little tribute. But in a matter of seconds, he was able to save me weeks of suffering and gave me a technique for combating illness that will serve me a lifetime.
And you don’t have to be a doctor to help out another person. All you have to do is believe that you can make a difference, and be willing to share of your time and your compassion.
Again, I will refer you to “It’s A Wonderful Life” for inspiration and “cinema therapy”. It speaks to the heart of this very issue. At the very least, you will forget your own troubles for a couple of hours. At the most, you will be changed forever.
© 2005, Robin Munson