It’s that time of the year, when many are looking back at 2013 and planning for 2014. I am full of hope and aspirations for the New Year. Here are a few of my resolutions, both professional and personal.
- Continue to grow Eugene Pediatric Associates. We have changed so much in the past four years: doubling our staff; doubling the size of our clinic; adding two fantastic new doctors, Drs. Chase and Romanoski, and two superb nurse practitioners, Alicia McIntire and Julie Penton. We have gone to an electronic medical record, and led the area in health care reform in our specialty. In summer 2014, we will be joined by another outstanding pediatrician (more on that later), and will launch our Behavioral Health Division.
- Be in the present more. It’s hard to soak up and appreciate every morsel of what’s happening when you are a type A planner, accustomed to looking and planning for what comes next. And yet, as a parent, I realize that I must keep striving to focus on enjoying today with my kids.
- Spend more time with my husband. The effect of two busy jobs, two crazy call schedules and two busy teenagers is we don’t spend enough time remembering what got us here. This year, we both resolve to find more moments together.
- Cut my kids and myself more slack. It’s easy in the competitive age we live in to feel inadequate. I am a natural worrier, and so I have spent too much time recently fretting over how my kids are doing and how I am doing as their mom. It’s time in 2014 to say, “Enough!” and be more accepting and happy with who we are and what we are doing.
- Breathe deeply every day. Taking five deep breaths can significantly improve your physical and mental well-being. I find that days when I can do this go better, even if it’s in the car as I am about to make hospital rounds. I resolve never to reach the end of a day in 2014 without having taken a few minutes to be Zen.
Whatever your dreams for the New Year, I hope you can achieve them. And I hope we can all enjoy the journey together, realizing that each day will be that day only once in our lives.
Happy 2014 to all my kids and families at Eugene Pediatrics!