Sometimes if we listen closely enough, life has a way of telling us which path to take. If we can only get ourselves out of the way we just might discover the best direction to take – and that would be in spite of what we think is best, and what we think is the perfect plan.
Some time ago when I was writing Air Power, a local newsletter for pulmonary patients, I thought it would be a good idea to help readers learn how to effectively manage their pulmonary care by telling them about someone I considered to be the perfect patient. John Z. was the ultimate example of excellent pulmonary management. He followed his doctor’s orders implicitly, took all his medications properly and on time, exercised routinely – did all those right things. I thought it would be a great idea (and, I was certain, be very effective) to profile John in the newsletter, holding him up as an example of how to be healthy by adhering so perfectly all the aspects of lung health management.
So, I wrote about John. As a small part of the story, kind of an aside, I added a little background about his growing up as part of a very large family in Iowa, and later, his life in Michigan where he worked for many years as a school bus driver. In my infinite wisdom I thought that surely people would remember first and foremost how faithfully John kept every appointment with this doctor and took his inhalers, using the perfect technique.
One day I was discussing John’s example with a new COPD patient. Indeed, this man had seen the newsletter, but here and now he had absolutely no idea who or what I was talking about. I was getting kind of frustrated and about to give up on connecting with him on this, when he exclaimed, “Oh! You’re talking about that guy… the bus driver!”
“Well… yeah… that’s him,” I sighed. I thought, “Oh, this is just great. I worked so hard on that piece about perfect pulmonary management and all this guy remembers is that John was a bus driver!” Then it dawned on me that we’re really not all that interested in medication schedules or techniques, but first in stories about people and things – things familiar to us, and people just like us. When we read that people are faced with challenges – even insurmountable odds – we then feel challenge ourselves, we are more likely to identify, and we pay attention. And when the people in stories overcome the odds it is then that we learn, and moreover, find hope.
So, I learned. When I began writing Inspirations: Stories of Breathing Better and Living Well, the first edition of Breathe Better, Live in Wellness, I set out to do my best to share stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. I knew in my heart the book was a good idea. I knew that there were a whole lot of people out there feeling all alone, and having no idea how to manage their lung health. But being a first time author I still had self-doubts.
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