All The Time In The World...
by Barbara Bartlein, R.N., M.S.W.

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Leaving a blizzard in Milwaukee, I got off the plane in Palm Springs and noticed that the airport did not have a roof. Definitely a good sign. With temperatures in the 70`s and lots of sunshine, I approached the weekend with little thought past Sunday and all the time in the world.

We could hardly complete our intense agenda. Coffee at Starbucks, shopping down palm lined streets, drinks at an Italian restaurant filled with Frank Sinatra photos and an unconfirmed sighting of Gloria Steinham at the California Pizza Kitchen kept us busy. Several members of the group went hiking in the hills while some read books by the pool.

I tried to savor each moment but in what seemed a matter of minutes, it was time to go home. As each guest left by car…by plane, I felt a sense of melancholy and nostalgia. I realized that I had approached the weekend like it would never end only to have it quickly slip away.

My life is so busy, the pace so hectic; I lose sight of how fast time is moving. I rarely allow the luxury of taking a day for myself or doing something that "doesn`t make sense." I never thought my sister-in-law would turn forty, nor did I think I would ever be "middle-aged." I didn`t know that my kids would grow up so fast or one day that my parents would be gone.

I`m reminded of an evening working the P.M. shift at a local hospital. I walked into the semi-darkened room of Alice, an 86 year old with end-state liver disease. Sitting in a wheel chair, she invited me to sit and talk for a while.

She said, "I can`t believe I am sitting here."

"Would you rather go back to bed?" I asked.

Laughing, she replied, "No, you don`t understand. I can`t believe that I`m 86 years old, sitting in a wheel chair. It feels like just yesterday that I was young, laughing, playing, with all the time in the world. And in an instant, I am sitting here; old, tired and at the end of my life. I do not know where the years went."

I`ve thought about that conversation many times and I`ve learned what Alice meant. How many of us live our lives like we have all the time in the world? Often squandering our health, our talents and our time.

As health professionals it is important that we model and convey an understanding of the brevity and fragility of life. It is essential that patients develop an awareness of how their choices and life style will affect their overall well-being in a few short years. Some important lessons to include in patient teaching:

1. How healthy you are at age twenty is genetics. How healthy you are at fifty is your lifestyle. Look carefully at the choices you make on a daily basis. Don`t worry about perfection. Approach exercise and healthy diet like the rule about flossing your teeth; "more days than not."

2. Don`t smoke! Smoking is a deadly habit and has more of an impact on health than any other factor. If you smoke, keep trying to quit. Research shows that people who repeatedly try to quit eventually make it long term. Don`t look at relapse as a failure. Success is ever increasing periods of abstinence.

3. Don`t sweat the small stuff. Keep life`s challenges in perspective and focus on enjoying each day. Let go of the past, but don`t live in the future. Happiness happens while we are busy doing something else.

4. Use your talents. If there is something you always wanted to do…then do it. Don`t play the "someday" game. We never know when we are out of some days. Don`t deny your real interests and passions.

5. Spend time with the people you love. Make sure what you identify as important, gets the majority of your time and attention. Do activities you enjoy with people you love. You will experience a lot of laughter and joy.