A Gift Worth Giving

We are all born with different gifts and talents. We excel in different walks of life. No matter where you are, what you do, you have gifts to share with the world.

As physicians, you share your gifts by taking care of your patients. You utilize your medical expertise to change lives. If you are to pick one – what is one gift you are offering as a physician?

For me, it is the gift of service. I believe that I am here, in this world, to serve other people. The best way I know to serve is to care for patients with hematologic or oncologic problems. My version of the gift of service to make it better for someone else – my patients or my coaching clients.

As I value my gift of service, I make sure that I always learn and grow to do the best. I make connections with people I serve so I get to do a better job. Connection is a wonderful and somewhat mysterious thing. Once you click with someone, it is easier to communicate. It is easier to move forward. It is easier to bring the both of us to a win-win situation. Service without connection is like getting things done in isolation. We human beings are not designed to live alone. We are meant to connect with one another. You will get to form special bonds with some people in your lifetime.

Besides connections, I serve with the goal of providing hope and healing for both the patients and the coaching clients. For patients, especially those with advanced disease, it may be challenging to see hope. Hope can come in different forms – the hope for cure, the hope for comfort, the hope of being heard, just to name a few. It brings me joy to serve others by giving the realistic, yet sometimes hard to grasp, hope.

The gift I choose to give also extends to healing – not just physical illnesses. For patients in oncology, “cure” is a word that we use conservatively. We reserve it for early stage cancers. For cancer in advanced stages, they are usually treatable and cure is difficult to achieve. I believe that healing is more than eradicating the physical illness in your body. It is also about healing from brokenness, hopelessness, and all the anger and frustration attached to the situation they are in. That goes with my physician coaching clients too, for the emotions and challenges they have experienced.

By serving the best way I can, I also empower others to rise above their situations, to become better than they already are, and to allow them to see that they have a certain degree of control in their lives. Yes, there are things we cannot control. We can control how we react to different situations.

I believe everyone has at least a gift worth giving. If we all use our gifts, even if it is just one gift per person, we are changing lives. We are changing the world. When you believe that your gift is worth sharing, you will do your best to share it as much as possible. It is not helpful to compare who has more gifts. What matters is how much you are using your gift. Believing you have a worthy gift is the first step to give what you can – without sacrificing your well-being.

When you are using the gift that you believe in, you are living a more fulfilling life. You are creating more joy, not just for you but for others. You are living a life that is in better alignment with your core values. What is your gift that is worth giving?