![\"airplane\"](\"https:\/\/svapm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/airplane.jpg\")
<\/a>\u201cOn an international flight from China, the captain\u2019s voice woke us: \u201cWill the doctors on board please press their call buttons?\u201d I looked at my watch. It was the middle of the night.\u00a0 I automatically reached for the button, and then lowered my hand. If I get sued, I put my family at risk \u2014 the litigation will bankrupt us.<\/p>\nI know there are 500 people on the flight. Surely, there are other doctors who can answer the call. The captain called again: \u201cWill any doctors on board please push their call button and make themselves known.\u201d I looked at my watch again. 7 minutes had passed since the first call. I was really struggling with myself. Come on, someone. I am not the only doctor on board!<\/p>\n
I pressed my call button and went to the flight attendant.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n I followed her to the business class galley. The person in need was unable to stand unassisted. One of the flight attendants said, \u201cWell, he\u2019s not bleeding. He must not be too bad.\u201d\u00a0 Fifteen years ago, I would have come down hard on her as I am sure I did on nurses making unqualified assessments. She was ignorant, not ill-intended. She saw what she saw. I saw what I saw \u2014 \u00a0a guy going downhill quickly, about to go into anaphylactic shock.<\/p>\n The purser already had a syringe in her hand, knowing that if no doctor showed up, she was accountable for injecting something generic into the man that hopefully would help. She gladly handed me the syringe. I inserted an IV, pushed lots of fluids. He stabilized. When we landed, he was put in the hands of the waiting medics.<\/p>\n On the Ground<\/b><\/p>\n Back at my corporate desk, answering emails, attending meetings, pushing papers, I heard myself wonder: Is this the right job for me? Is this how I want to use my talents and skills? Does it match my values? Is this how I want to experience my days? Am I satisfied in a way that matters to me?<\/p>\n I recalled that during the incident, as the passenger stabilized, the purser patted me on the back as she said \u201cYou\u2019re an angel.\u201d That respect is what I crave. I don\u2019t always get it, or as much as I want, at my corporate desk.\u00a0 I was happy the guy stabilized, not just for his sake and his health, but for mine, too.<\/p>\n Because of the conversations you and I have had about my values, I\u2019m listening to life and myself differently.\u00a0 I now know what to listen to when I make important choices.\u00a0 What\u2019s negotiable and what isn\u2019t. Where to bend and for how long. \u00a0I\u2019ve already seen my colleagues look at me with surprise because I\u2019ve stopped flying off the handle because I am less triggered by my hot buttons.<\/p>\n On that plane, life was telling me something. And I was listening. I get it: I am the captain of my work, my career, my life. It\u2019s up to me to. I\u2019m going to stabilize myself and take care of my health. \u00a0It\u2019s funny: I\u2019m a doctor who\u2019s going to get healthy and live better by understanding my values.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a>What do I do? <\/a><\/p>\n