SOCIAL

  THE WAY I SEE IT

REACT PROACTIVELY

TAKE A DEEP BREATH BEFORE YOU REACT, AND EXHALE AS YOU ACT PROACTIVELY

I AM CONVINCED that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you. . . We are in charge of our attitudes.” — Charles Swindoll. I read this quote on the bottom of Felicia’s email. She is one of those people you walk away from feeling inadequate. She is smart, determined and genuinely focused, all while never cracking a smile. In fact, I sometimes email her just to read some insightful script, or frankly, just to see how unintelligent I am.

I’VE GOT THE POWER

This quote from Mr. Swindoll (of whom I have never heard. For all I know he could be the guy who proclaims “Welcome to Walmart” on Vista Way in Oceanside, Calif. and just happens to wax poetic when anyone is listening) is grounded in reality. Its meaning is obvious to me: I have the ability to make conscious decisions. Simply if someone throws me some shade, that does not mean I have to use singular digit sign language to respond in kind.

My mother was confident in my decision-making abilities. She would say, it is not me she is worried about, it is all the other lunatics in the world (wait, does that mean I am a lunatic to some mother out there?) If we all thought the same way, we would walk around suspicious of the crazed fool next to us! More importantly, we would tend to be proactive in attempting to stay a step ahead of said fool.

PROACTIVE POWER

These forward thinkers really get me analyzing how I can be a better clinician. Swindoll’s quote elucidates the notion that we must take a deep breath before we react; however, we can exhale as we act proactively. As optometrists, we should strive to be ahead of the next disease or defect. Be proactive to treat all conditions; look for opportunities to be a positive part of the 10% of life that happens to them.

As our optometric acumen enlarges, our ability to predict and prevent conditions from reaching a symptomatic stage is heightened.

In this month of giving thanks, be thankful for the opportunities we have to help our patients (although, mine should be dropping some serious love my way for all I do for them). The thankful patient is the one with the optometrist who seizes every appointment to act proactively.

APPLY SWINDOLL

Swindoll has something here. Consider the patient who returned for his third refraction check on a pair of glasses. Namaste. The patient who decided the best time to answer the phone is the moment you walk in. Wait — no, that person deserves my look of 100% angst, or a view of my booty as I just walk out to do something more productive, like remove the Schirmer strip from the last patient who made me wait. (Just sayin’.) OM

MARC BLOOMENSTEIN O.D., M.B.A., currently practices at Schwartz Laser Eye Center in Scottsdale, Ariz. He is a founding member of the Optometric Council on Refractive Technology. Email him at mbloomenstein@gmail.com, or visit tinyurl.com/OMcomment to comment on this article.