I just worked three weeks straight without a break! I worked 10 or 12 hours per day in the clinic, hospital, or urgent care. My regular job is Tuesday to Friday, 10 hours per day to total 40 hours per week. I see patients in the clinic setting for an organization that provides medical care to low-income patients with or without insurance. Then I picked up two three day weekend shifts to work Saturday, Sunday, and Monday for a California School of Medicine where I taught and supervised residents as we saw patients in the hospital. I ended the three-week streak with a day in urgent care yesterday.
Today is my first day off!
Some questions that beg to be answered are:
- First, why did I do that?
- Second, why am I telling you this?
Why did I do that?
To be honest with you, I didn’t plan on doing so and I wouldn’t advise anyone to do it. It can take a toll on you! I work as a primary care physician in an underserved part of California. There are more patients than doctors to see them. Most of my patients are low-income people. Because of that, leaders responsible for staffing hospitals, urgent cares, and clinics are always in need of medical providers. Giving my heart for underprivileged people and the sense of calling I feel towards serving these people, you can see how I mistakenly ran my mouth and ended up with a schedule that had me working for three weeks straight without a day off for rest. I also needed the money for a new car and kids tuition etc. I hate debt and for the last few years, my wife and I have worked hard to pay off my medical school loans. We succeeded a couple of months ago to be debt-free but were also cash-free to meet ongoing needs, so that extra money helped.
Regardless, I don’t think it’s a good idea. I should have spread it out.
Why am I telling you this?
I am telling you this to remind you of some of the dangers of walking within your calling. I consider myself extremely blessed to be getting up every day and doing something that gets me excited and that I believe is my calling. I tell my wife and others every day how fortunate it is for me to be doing the kind of work I get to do. I would do it for free if my financial responsibilities to self and family were all met. The result of this joy of walking in my calling has been a burden that I feel of God to help others find and walk in their calling. Through my personal coaching and mentoring through my KennethMD.com site and face-to-face with people as well as through the Kenneth Acha Foundation, we are committed to helping others find their calling. If you don’t know your calling and are interested in doing so, we can help you!
Yet, there are some dangers that those of us who are walking within our calling have to guard against. The example of me working for three weeks straight shows some of those dangers. When you walk within your calling, you would be passionate about your calling, love the people, and your gifts will be needed. The temptation to over-extend yourself will be great. Yet, you have to work hard to resist it.
Medically speaking, we know the crucial importance of rest. From a spiritual angle, the Bible says, six days you shall labor and one day you shall rest. To serve my community and my family, I could easily work 5 or 6 ten-hour shifts a week and get one day off each week to rest and recharge. But I must resist the temptation and guard against the carelessness that will have me work long periods without a day off for rest.
I told you this both to encourage you to find your calling and to give you a tip about taking care of yourself and resting when you do find your calling.
If you know someone who might benefit from this post, please kindly share. I believe everyone deserves to experience the joy and blessedness of walking in their calling.
