Happy Friday!

So, it's Friday. I thought I'd recap the week by sharing little of what I've learned this week.

1 - Don't make a decision while going up hill. A decision to quit that is. This thought originally occurred to me while running on Tuesday evening. I was headed up a hill, bet you wouldn't have guessed that!, and the thought of not running the Detroit half marathon sounded magical. Surely I could think of some sort of excuse. But, as I reached the top and continued another mile or so I thought, "Man, I'm so glad I kept going!" Moral of the story: Don't make a decision to quit while going up a hill. (As you can probably imagine, this has more significant applications as well...medical school? perhaps...) Which reminds of Dr. Seuss...

And will you succeed?

Yes! You will, indeed!

(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)

So...

be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray

or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,

you're off to Great Places!

Today is your day!

Your mountain is waiting.

So...get on your way!

(Dr. Seuss's Oh, the Places You'll Go)

2 - Calling recorded lectures of biochemistry, evidence based medicine, or physiology "Episodes" makes them slightly more enjoyable. Almost like I'm watching a real TV show. Especially if I grab a snack...

3 - Politics are everywhere (I already knew that...). But, they are much more prevalent in healthcare, particularly in Michigan, than I'd imagined. (That, I should have known...) It's probably best I don't share my opinions on here, but give me a call. We'll talk. For a long time. Maybe I'll try to tackle the whole situation in a future post...anyways, I've learned I'm even more thankful for the Air Force than I thought.

4 - Salad dressing on your leafy greens help promote all of their leafy goodness (specifically by helping your body absorb all those fat soluble vitamins in the salad--like vitamin A, E, and K) If you want to really help yourself out, go eat your leafy green salad, with salad dressing, outside (sunlight triggers vitamin D synthesis).

5 - Impatience is a sin. The sermon series at church right now is titled, "Not That Bad." It centers around sin that we claim, or sometimes don't even recognize, as being that bad. If sin is the failure to reflect the image of God in nature, attitude, or action, then being impatient, something God certainly is not, is a sin. When we're impatient we are doing one of two things: 1. tellling God our timing is better than his or 2. that we are more important than someone else. His challenge? Seek out the longest line at the grocery store and wait in it. With 2 items. Hold the door, every time, for every last person. And, drive in the slow lane...happily...without tailgating. The sermon the previous week was on anxiety and worry--also a sin. I'd have to say that those are probably the two most common complaints of all med students...feeling anxious or worried and impatient. Too bad these sermons aren't a graduation requirement!

7 - MSU and UofM play each other this weekend. Growing up near Ann Arbor, I knew it was a big deal, but  experiencing the intensity and emotion first hand, I am seeing the reality of the rivalry. It's been going on ALL week. My biochem professor called on people to answer questions if they were wearing yellow--because apparently you wear your respective school colors ALL week. Being in a graduate program where there are a lot of UofM and State undergrads in one room makes me a little uncomfortable sometimes. But, whatever, I'll give into the peer pressure.GO GREEN! (you respond, "GO WHITE!")

and lastly, but certainly not least! 6 - I love my biochemistry book. I can hear it calling as I type...