Options
There is a TV show that my wife and I have come to love: The Good Doctor. Freddie Highmore plays Dr. Shaun Murphy, a very talented young intern who happens to have Autism. Nicholas Gonzales plays Dr. Neil Melendez, the Chief of Surgery at the hospital.
One episode had an African woman who came to America with her dying son to find a Dr. who could help them. Dr. Melendez was totally against operating on the kid because he felt like there was no way it could succeed. Dr. Murphy, however, came up with a slim but worthwhile option to try. When Dr. Melendez dismissed the idea, Dr. Murphy asked him: “Is the potential to fail a reason not to try?” Dr. Melendez admitted that it was not a good reason.
It was a great question and worthy of digesting. They started collaborating and came up with a few viable options. They went into surgery and through trial and error, found the way to help the boy’s heart keep beating.
Here are some takeaways:
- Almost everything you face has options. There are probably a few exceptions, but most of the time you do have options; you just have not thought of them yet.
- There are options within options. When you face one obstacle that does not mean it is the end of the road, just a detour. Look for other ways to make it happen, then determine: What is the best way?
- Just because everyone says, “It won’t work,” does not mean they are right. If you have a dream for something you want to be or do, don’t let anyone steal your dream. Get creative, collaborate, and search for options.
- Options give us two things: hope and choices. We need both in order to have any meaning to life. If there is no hope, then life is pointless, but….there is always hope. Hope is there when you can’t see it, feel it, hear it, smell it, or taste it. Even if you don’t believe it, hope is there. You just might have to be reminded of it.
- Faith takes hope to the next level.
Whatever obstacles you might be facing today, don’t lose hope.
Shalom!
Dan Skognes