Dr.
Jedidiah’s Diary
Dr. Jedidiah is a psychiatrist who loves traveling,
meeting new people, and exploring different cultures. As a single father who
lost his wife to drug overdose 10 years ago, he has not been his old perky self
for the last decade. During those hard years, he has met hundreds of, thousands
of people from various walks of life around all over the world. Meeting new
people and listening to their stories outside his office have given him
different feelings from the ones through the formal encounter groups or support
groups for therapy. These people he has accidentally come across were the paths
through which Dr. Jedidiah could look back on his own life, being truly honest
with himself. Here is Dr. Jedidiah’s monologue that has left him with some food
for thoughts in life….or some fodder to justify his own mistakes in the past.
Episode
#4
It was my fifth Spring in Michigan when I joined the
local “runner meet” called “RESILIENCE”. I had been in search of a passionate
cohort of runners that could make daily cheerleaders rooting for one another on a daily basis. This runner group named Resilience was every inch true to their title, not
just a titular batch of people who hope
to gain confidence through recreational running occasionally and wouldn’t mind
days and days without running for millions of excuses in life. Yes, back in
those days, I needed motivators who could keep me back on track each time I was looking for one hundred and one
reasons not to get out of my bed early in the morning.
Among the runners I met in the club Resilience, a lady named Felicia was
considered by everyone as a conqueror. She had been in fatal accidents twice in
her twenties. One of the nightmarish accidents happened when she was running in
the dark after work. Since she forgot to bring her reflective running vest to work that day, she was trying to run
inside the nearby park where no vehicles were allowed. The park was located
less than a half mile away from her workplace, she did not bring her car to the
park but decided to run there. Since the winter
solstice was fast approaching, it was already getting darker outside. After
she got in fast 6 miles inside the
park, she was hurrying back to her office not to feel the wintry chill in and
out of her running shirt and pants completely soaked in sweat. When she was
running into two to three hundred meters away from the office, a huge SUV was barreling down the street kitty cornered from that building. Boom!!!
That was the final moment in Felicia’s memory before she woke up. She had been
in coma for a week and under multiple surgeries until she was finally
discharged in four months. To all our
dismay, she faced another cruel accident just within a couple of years
after she had been done with her rehabilitation process. The storage space
where she was checking with the products in stock was on fire, which made her
suffocated and suffer serious burns.
Felicia started to blame the world and even her loving
God for all those devastating sufferings and hardships in her life over the
years. Her physical and mental pain, which was inexplicably hard to overcome,
made her give up on her one and only passion, running. Days, months, and years
had passed until one day she had a pivotal
moment in her life. She happened to meet a runner who was a double amputee veteran called Tom at a
sports rehab clinic. The moment Tom met Felicia for the very first time, he
could tell how miserable Felicia was feeling by her hopeless blank eyes. He
shared his story with Felicia about how he became the happiest runner even
without both of his legs below knees. Listening to Tom’s stories at the clinic
on a daily basis changed Felicia’s attitude in life. She reached her old
running shoes deserted in the attic and laced them up for her first running in
ages.
Felicia said her first mile after all those runless years felt like breaking each
and every muscle and joint in her body, but it was lighter and happier on the
next day and the following day. Now she became the nonreplaceable leader and paragon of motivation at this running
club Resilience. As a medical doctor,
I felt ashamed of myself. It is not specific medicine or doctor’s consultation
that had recreated Felicia. It is her own decision and will power to restart
her own life by letting her mind run first, which is not something transmundane but rather her small wish
that would rekindle her passion through hardships in life. Thanks to Felicia, I
have learned how to allow my weak self to work in my favor at my own pace
without giving up.
Expressions
1. to root for someone: to
support or hope for the success of (a person or group entering a contest or
undertaking a challenge)
2. every inch …: entirely
or very much so
3.
titular:
in
title only; holding or constituting a purely formal position or title without any
real authority
4. back on track: continuing
as planned or expected, typically after a problem or distraction
5.
reflective
running vest: running vest that is capable of physically
reflecting light (glows in the dark) so that it could keep runners safe in the
dark
6.
winter
solstice: the solstice that marks the onset of winter, at the
time of the shortest day, about December 22 in the northern hemisphere
7.
to
get something in: to manage to find time for doing something
8.
barrel
down…: If a vehicle or person is barreling in a particular
direction, they are moving very quickly in that direction with a crazy speed
9.
kitty
(or catty or cater) cornered: situated/ located
diagonally opposite someone or something.
10.
to
one’s dismay: to one’s discomfort or surprise
11.
pivotal:
of
crucial/ vital importance in relation to the development or success of
something else
12.
double-amputee:
a
person who has lost both of his/ her legs by amputation.
13.
paragon:
excellent
example or role model
14.
transmundane:
extending
or lying beyond the world
