It's not Age .... It's the Mileage!

This is a milestone month for me.   I have been working at Medical Park Family Care Inc. in Anchorage Alaska now for 30 years!   Where has all the time disappeared to.   Painting is my passion and second vocation.  Like most artists my "real" job pays the bills.

I can honestly say I find it hard to believe it has been this long at MPFC.   I have managed the Radiology Dept. since 1980.   I still enjoy my job; which is a blessing.   This is a compliment to who I work for, who I work with and to the patients we serve.   Some of the patients I have watched grow up from children to now bringing their own children to our clinic.   Three of the doctors who originally hired me at MPFC have  retired and one of the doctors sons is now a doctor practicing at our clinic.   Only one of the original Physicians is still working, Matt and I are the "Old Dogs" here now.   We have been through lean and tough times and good times at MPFC, through it all, I have come to love the people I work for and with.   The "Family" part of our name is truly accurate, we are a family and it has been like most families, some struggles, and some arguments but through all of that we have always had respect for each other professionally and personally.   I have learned so much about life from my peers at work and from our patients.

One of the gifts of working in Medicine is that you are reminded constantly just how good your life is when you have your health.   your health is so important.   Money and all the material aspects of life mean nothing without your health.   The other major gift of working in Medicine is that you learn how strong and wonderful some people truly are.  I have learned more about personal strength from patients that have faced some incredible hardships in life and how their attitude has helped them through.   Some have battles that they lost, but they never gave up fighting and realizing how lucky they were to have another day of life.   I have always tried to remind myself of these lessons when life's little hardships come my way.  Most of the time I succeed and take the curve balls with a grain of salt.   Sometimes I let them get me down, but usually not for to long.   As my body ages I can't do all of the things physically I could as a young man, and that is okay.  I have learned to enjoy life more as I get older and value family and friends as the true reward in life.   So the mileage has taught me good things.

In art I have a saying about learning to paint.   "It is not always talent that makes a good painter .... it is brush miles that make a good painter."   What I mean is talent will only take you so far, but it you are willing to paint, paint and paint you will become a good artist.   Practice and practice is what can teach you how to become better at all things, not matter at what age you are.

Remember "It's not the Age .... It's the mileage!"