Do You Know What You Really Have?

Sometimes we get so caught up in life we take the most important things for granted
Photo: Catherine Scott

So many of us go through life complaining about the little things. I once heard an amazing lady say “many people aren’t happy unless they’re complaining!”

It’s easy to go through life looking so far ahead we forget to look at what is immediately around us.

We get so preoccupied by the feeling that “I am not enough” that we strive harder and harder to achieve things that are just out of our reach. In doing so, we take the most basic and important things in our lives for granted.

Whilst I’ve said this to people for many years, a month ago I truly understood what I was always trying to say.

“In just two seconds I realised what was and wasn’t important in my life.”

You see, my life is amazing. I have a gorgeous two year old boy who is bright, healthy, infectiously happy and the envy of everyone who meets him.

I have a beautiful wife who comes from an amazing family and I’m surrounded by the most wonderful staff and friends who would do anything to help me through a situation.

Professionally I’m highly respected; I lecture on both the national and international stage on various aspects of biochemistry, neurology and physiology, and I have a very successful practice.

So why could I never see what was around me?

We Often Take the Present for Granted – Until We Learn the Hard Way

You see we all get so caught up in our goals that we forget to look at what surrounds us. We judge ourselves by what we achieve on a weekly basis, not on what we have and who we are. A month ago I learned this the hard way.

Whilst playing with my little man I stood up to chase him and as I did, within a second, I lost all hearing in my right ear. Everything! It was that quick.

I developed a rare condition which rendered the nerve to my ear useless. This was the first time in my life that I let go of all my goals and dreams and looked back at what I was losing.

“It’s easy to go through life looking so far ahead we forget to look at what is immediately around us.”

I couldn’t function with the input of sound from only one side of my brain. The combination of deafness and extreme tinnitus created a stress that was like nothing I have ever experienced.

After two weeks of every test imaginable and all options exhausted, I was advised to prepare for the fact that this will most likely be forever.

At this point it was not my dreams and aspirations that kept me going, but my present. The inability to hear my little boy call for me at night, the inability to clearly hear his voice through my good ear, the inability to be able to help my patients, the inability to be able to enjoy a song or movie with my wife, that’s what now motivated me.

When a health crisis looms, your professional aspirations can fall into the background

Recognising What You Have

I realised all the amazing people I’m surrounded by both professionally and personally, all who came to my aid. My colleagues from around the world dropped everything to help me find a solution to this problem.

You see, this is not about me. This is about everyone who, like me, never took the time to sit back and realise what they had.

“We live in a fast-paced city where everyone always seems to want to get somewhere quickly… When did this happen?”

It’s about all of you who stress over your kids spilling water on the floor, about traffic holding up your day, about the cyclist who got in the way and didn’t allow you to fly past a car, about the boss that seems to dislike you… What’s it all for?

I’ve been one of the lucky few who knew the right people to help me sort things out. Between us we found the issue, developed a treatment strategy and in just two weeks I now have 80 per cent of my hearing back.

Two Seconds Can Change It All

So what is really important in your life? What could you not do without?

In just two seconds I realised what was and wasn’t important in my life. The things that used to annoy me are now my happiest moments. When my little one enters our room at night and wants a cuddle; the sound of my wife’s voice; arriving in the office to see the people I work with that I hold so dear to me…

We live in a fast-paced city where everyone always seems to want to get somewhere quickly, without caring about who they step on along the way. When did this happen? This isn’t the Melbourne so many of us grew up in.

The last month has reminded me of this quote from Sidonie Gabrielle Colette, “What a wonderful life I’ve had. I only wish I’d realised it sooner!”