Maybe it’s the humidity-wrapped mornings, or the fantasy of finding a pool by afternoon, but I seem to have accidentally found my way into summer’s groove. Thoughts about snow cones are more frequent than thoughts of the upcoming football season, which speaks volumes.
Last summer, my wife and I had our European wedding, then moved from California to Carolina, and for the preceding nine summers, each was marked by the turn of the academic calendar and the demand to find my way inside of a new year of training, in a new location, with new demands—while never wanting to be a doctor.
To meet the level of my excitement to reunite with summer, for the first time since 2014, I’ve considered commemorating the occasion with a family-reunion-style t-shirt.
But, the guy who got me here—to the life I’d dreamt about for a decade—knows what it took. To stop swimming against the current of my past situation meant the possibility of getting swept into the Arctic Sea or worse, orthopedic surgery. The stakes were high; to fight was to survive.
Now though, to keep up the fight is the easier choice. To keep on digging for answers, searching through the past for vindication, and building up my defenses against future anxieties would be a straight-forward jog through the neighborhood in well-worn running shoes. To actually enjoy this summer and further, to enjoy my life, is a daunting challenge, like a trail marathon through the desert in flip flops.
But, just like the necessity of the previous fight, enjoyment must be had now… for the love of sour apple snow cones.
To livin’ a life we love,
Ryan Fightmaster, MD
(If you’d like a free copy of my first book’s audiobook on Audible, I have 50 free promo codes while they last! Reply to this email and I’ll forward you the code.)
