And again, more reasons to count blessings

Boston marathon coverage from NY Daily News

Working in the medical profession, particularly in acute-care settings, has definitely changed my perspective of natural disasters and the recovery from devastation. Every time I head about explosions, disasters, bombings, etc, my mind has learned to reflexively think about the emergency/disaster medical teams that must mobilize so quickly and try to save as many people as possible. I can only imagine the chaos amidst fear and confusion and trying to be the face of calm, trying to think straight during those times so you can prevent more destruction...man...

Part of me wants to be in on the action, to be there to help, save people, and protect lives. After all, that's what I'm being trained to do now, isn't it? However, it's a fine balance between getting to do a lot and also sacrificing my own personal safety (I tend to disregard that a lot...heh).

My friend posted up this story from WWII as similar to this story from this week about a fortunate man who escaped TWO destructive events very narrowly. I read Hiroshima by John Hersey back in high school, but I think at the time I was not experienced enough to appreciate the devastation that was caused by the atomic bombs. I did not understand fear or human pain. Part of it was because I feel like as humans, we want to avoid feeling pain. We want to avoid causing ourselves more emotional stress than is necessary, so we block those feelings and distance ourselves.

3rd year has taught me that pain will come, and HAS to come, to grow us. And I no longer run from pain--I embrace it (more on this later). I am thankful for the experiences in my life so far because they have slowly opened my eyes to depth of pain people can suffer and the strength of human resilience. Look at the people in war torn countries right NOW...they go through bombings and attacks everyday. Referencing back to my previous post we are SO lucky to be in a country that is LARGELY safe. Safety is NEVER guarenteed, but with Christ, PEACE is. <3