Top 10 moments of 2008

I believe that only when we are grateful for what we have received, are we able to receive more goodness in our lives. And I'm not saying that because I want to receive, receive, receive, but more so because the act of stating what you're grateful for makes me feel blessed and thankful, which feels really good! Especially in residency, when there is an inherent default setting in you that points to "complain!" I'm a little bit on the late side, but here are my favorite moments from 2008, which was a great year for me!!

10. Putting up my Christmas tree this year. I know it's a very small thing, but it's been years where I actually took the time to buy a tree and decorate it. It was an activity that took only an hour maybe (yeah, it was a sparsely decorated tree!), but it made me realize that I need to take the time to do little things that make me happy.
9. Reading The Inheritance of Loss, by Kiran Desai. I haven't read a book this good in many, many years. I love the description of the foothills of the Himalayas - the fog and mist descending upon the foothills, covering what appears to the unsuspecting observer as a beautiful village with a shroud of desolation. Anyone who loves descriptive writing should read this book.
8. Passing Step 3! Man, this test was brutal! It was two days long and I had to fight to keep awake to answer all those questions. I was so happy I passed.
7. Finishing 2nd year of residency and starting my third, and final, year of residency. I am proud of myself for doing something that at one point, I didn't know I had the strength to do. I'm also grateful for all those little moments in the third year of residency where my intern was grateful for the time I took to spend time teaching. I love teaching!
6. Along the same lines, there is one specific teaching moment that stands out in my mind - supervising my intern's first lumbar puncture ever this past July. She had a champagne tap - zero white cells, zero red cells found in the cerebrospinal fluid. I was really proud of this moment because I felt that my teaching and guidance that I offered to her enabled this first experience for her to be a success. It also made me realize that I've come a long way in residency... I've gained both experience and confidence.
5. Accompanying ML to her OB appointment and seeing a healthy baby growing inside of her. What a tear jerker.

4. Engagement ceremony in DC in September. It was so cool to have our families and friends together for that special ceremony. The food was really good too!
3. Accepting my fellowship in Pulmonology at Boston Children's. I was on call in the PICU, on rounds when I received a page to contact the fellowship direction. I called back right away and was jumping up and down afterwards!!
2. India trip 2008. Never in a million years could I have imagined that I would actually be able to travel to India during residency! I had the experience of a lifetime at Swarna Jayanti Samudaik Hospital, making beautiful friends and gaining invaluable experience. And most of all, I was grateful to all the children who were my patients, who taught me so much about Pediatrics.
1. The Proposal at Muir Woods, March 24th- I will never look at Trail Mix the same way.

Wow. What a great year for me. Writing this down makes me regret the countless energy I wasted complaining about various things. If I had channeled that energy into something positive... who knows what more could have happened. I think I hear myself making a new year's resolution.