A Message from the CEO - May 2024
I was on a high falootin’ bicycle trip last week in California wine country. I didn’t have any clue what to expect … I thought it’d be a lot of wine tasting, good food, and a bit of riding gentle hills. It was all of that but also a lot of big hills and lots of miles. The two support people were amazing (young and energetic) and showed a lot of compassion, which was necessary because of the big hills and lots of miles*. My takeaway from this trip was “I’m missing a lot of really cool things”. I was thinking when I was riding that I’m probably in the top ten riders for 59-year-old, slightly overweight non-athletic guys from Iowa … but alas, this is not a recognized class of athletes. My opinion of my talents is overrated in my mind.
My comparison for a ride like this is basically rides in Iowa. Not really in the same category. This makes me wonder then, what are my benchmarks for everything - from ISH to my guitar playing abilities, to my knowledge on wine to cooking and … etc.? Do my comparisons push me to become better? I would say probably not.**
With this new perspective, I know that I am experiencing just a taste of what life can offer. We all are. Can we do better? Can we be better? Do opportunities exist if we want them, and how, what, why, and when can they happen?
Wow. Life happens when we open our eyes and take that scary first step.
*From my thank note to them: “I get notes and letters from patients every day praising my staff for great care. I read them and think “Yep, - they are awesome.” … I hear this a lot, and so I think I don’t appreciate how deep our patients' appreciation truly is. Until you are in their (the patients') shoes - it’s hard to truly understand. Please hear this - you two provided above-average, extraordinary service. Thanks. (Wednesday was as close to going through a hard labor and birth as I’ll ever get … I now understand.)” **Riding in a hilly area, you come upon the hilliest of hills. After you complete what you feel is the hardest, steepest hill ever and you congratulate yourself on your milestone … there will most certainly be another steeper hill right around the corner. It happens all the time. “You thought your task was that tiny hill? HA HA HA - wrong.” - the universe.
