January 31--Symptoms and Causes

Mutual caring relationships require kindness and patience, tolerance, optimism, joy in the other's achievements, confidence in oneself, and the ability to give without undue thought of gain.  --Fred Rogers

    I agree, but what a tall order!

    Today we finish off the January theme of respect. Mr. Rogers gives a lovely definition of respectful relationships. 

    I've been thinking a bunch about the student doctors and the Encounters I did with them on Monday. The Encounters were 20 minutes long, longer than most doctors spend with patients these days. I was a well-behaved rookie patient and followed the script. However, I wanted to say--what about getting to the actual cause of my weight problem? We discussed poor habits (sedentary desk job, eating fast food) and ways to improve, all good stuff. The students sincerely want to help, otherwise they would be studying something else. But what about my relationships? Maybe my job is too stressful. Maybe I get no time to myself. Maybe my husband is abusive. There are so many potential contributing factors in such a situation. I realize that we couldn't go into all that in a short Encounter. However, it makes me wonder whether the students will eventually move past symptoms to dig deeper into causes. 

    We are all learning!

        Leta

Barney, the Adorable Snuggler