{"id":32857,"date":"2014-11-27T17:39:10","date_gmt":"2014-11-27T16:39:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?p=32857"},"modified":"2015-09-22T14:27:47","modified_gmt":"2015-09-22T13:27:47","slug":"william-cayley-thanks-for-what","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2014\/11\/27\/william-cayley-thanks-for-what\/","title":{"rendered":"William Cayley: Thanks for what?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"bill_cayley_2\"<\/a>This has been quite a year . . . but then again, what year is not?<\/p>\n

Each passing year seems to bring a fresh crop of challenges, crises, obstacles, and frustrations. Being a doctor or, perhaps especially, being a GP is not what it used to be. It’s sometimes hard to tell whether medicine is advancing, or just becoming more convoluted, confused, or even corrupt<\/a>. Patients seem to want more, when insurers cover less. In the United States, the promise of the Affordable Care Act is running up against the realities of implementation and unexpected hidden incentives\u2014and that’s just in medicine!<\/p>\n

When pondering the traditional, end of the year American Thanksgiving<\/a> day holiday, it is easy to simply think, \u201cI\u2019m thankful this year is over!\u201d Yet, while survival and simply muddling through sometimes seem to be about all one can manage on a day to day basis, there may be more to be thankful for than simply having made it through one more year. I\u2019ve been pondering some wisdom that suggests the regular onslaught of challenges, crises, and obstacles may itself be something for which we can be thankful:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.\u201d (Romans 5:3-4)<\/p>\n

Anytime someone tells me a hardship \u201cbuilds character,\u201d my first response is that \u201cI\u2019m enough of a character already!\u201d The truth is, though, that how we face the tough stuff can make us better. Put another way by Viktor Frankl<\/a>:<\/p>\n

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”<\/p>\n

In psychological terms, this is the process of developing \u201cresilience,\u201d the habit of \u201c’bouncing back’ in the face of adversity<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

While crises, obstacles, and frustrations make each day a challenge, when we take up the challenge they present and we \u201cchange ourselves,\u201d we can both grow personally, and grow professionally as givers of care to those facing suffering and chaos.<\/p>\n

As I ponder the end of the year and our American Thanksgiving holiday, there are in fact many good things from this year to be thankful for. Nevertheless, I am also reminded that it is the challenges of the year that have probably served the most to help me persevere, to grow, and to become (hopefully) a more resilient and caring physician.<\/p>\n

William E Cayley Jr<\/strong>\u00a0practices\u00a0at the Augusta Family Medicine Clinic; teaches at the Eau Claire Family Medicine Residency; and is a professor at the University of Wisconsin, Department of Family Medicine.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI declare that I have read and understood BMJ policy on declaration of interests and I have no relevant interests to declare\u2014but some people think I\u2019m a character!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This has been quite a year . . . but then again, what year is not? Each passing year seems to bring a fresh crop of challenges, crises, obstacles, and […]<\/p>\n

More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1357,14769],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us-health-care","category-william-cayley"],"yoast_head":"\nWilliam Cayley: Thanks for what? - The BMJ<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2014\/11\/27\/william-cayley-thanks-for-what\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"William Cayley: Thanks for what? - The BMJ\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This has been quite a year . . . but then again, what year is not? 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