Gravel Road

I have been blessed this year on many fronts in my life. While on most days life can be a struggle, celebrating the good things somehow decreases the challenging times. I was selected the Biz Time Milwaukee Health Care Hero of the Year for my work with people living with mental illness in our community. The following is the talk I shared with my colleagues who honored me at a morning celebration.

Thank you for this amazing honor. Congratulations to my esteemed colleagues some of who I have shared this journey with for many years. Whether your being honored or a guest, an award such as this is recognition for everyone. It is a great example of what can happen when we come together called to serve those who need in our community. While each of us bring something totally different to the restoration of human life, our work has a commonality.

Above all, that commonality we bring to a person in need is a renewal of hope. Regardless of the person’s struggle, our ability to love them embracing the challenges of  a journey is a first step to healing. Think about this fact everyone.

Think about this fact everyone.

Don’t we all struggle with something?

A relationship, our own health, our desire to become more, have more or be treated as we want to be treated.

If we are truly honest with ourselves aren’t we all broken in some way?

Essentially nothing separates us from those we serve; we just need to be honest when we look in the mirror each day.

So, I am thinking the real hero’s today are those we are called to serve. They teach us, their suffering shows us the value life and motivates to understand our science inspiring advancement and change.

If we listen carefully, our patients lead us to a path of recovery. A true journey that is typically hard, with many turns, hills and valleys with not a straight road in sight.

As we are called to serve, lets keep in mind above all, it is faith in healing and restoration that changes the trajectory of what life brings for us.

In the words of Vincent Van Gogh, “Normality is a paved road: It’s comfortable to walk, but no flower can grow on it.”

Biz Times Article