Iowa Specialty Hospital

Notes from Steve

June 25, 2015

I wrote a “Dear John” letter to a company we’ve decided not to partner with. If you know anything about me at all, you know that I am all about new stuff. Change is something I relish and seek out. I love shaking things up. But … alas … when all is said and done; amazing patient care and extraordinary staff/provider engagement is what it is all about, not keeping Steve stimulated with shiny new things. In the letter I quoted a poem by Robert Frost - “… Two roads diverged in a wood, and, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” This reference is particularly appropriate because many times we try and create our fate from what we “like” to do not what we “need” to do. I “like” change … Iowa Specialty Hospitals and Clinics doesn’t need change for change’s sake.  

“Huh?” Another huge thing I did yesterday besides the letter was, I closed on the sale of grounded.  When I opened my hipster coffee shop/restaurant/awesome space four years ago, I was doing it because I was attempting to create my own fate. I wanted grounded to be the “it” place and the essence of cool and hip for north central Iowa. It was pretty cool and will be again, but for someone else to own, love, and ultimately be successful. Yesterday was a pretty big day for me and my ego – I had to admit that not all ends well or ends to my liking. For me, that is, and was a big hit.

 

My word for 2015 was “prepare”. I really didn’t understand the significance of the word when I chose it, but the reason and purpose for me is coming into focus. I remember a conversation I had in college where a good friend* asked what I wanted to do with my life. I said I wanted to change my corner of the world.  I wanted to be the example of how to do things well. The trouble I got into with starting restaurants or partnering with the organizations that aren’t completely right for us, was I was trying to change the world to my specifications. My cosmic lesson is that it is not about me … I need to do the best with what I encounter on the journey.  My lesson is that we are given gifts, and it is our responsibility to care for those gifts and make them amazing. When we try and create our own fates and outcomes, this is where we run into trouble. For someone who doesn’t have a lot of patience, this is an extremely difficult task, but necessary.

 

 

*Tami (now Tamara) the psychic healer from Bali

 

Steve Simonin, President & CEO

 

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