Christmas and Ralph Waldo Emerson

As I sit here after a fantastic Christmas Day and I think of all the things I’m grateful for in this last 12 months, I write to thank you all for your continued commitment to excellence and learning.

I thank you for the opportunity to teach and for the time you give to read the blogs and attend the workshops and conferences. My commitment to you is to provide more education in 2012 and beyond. Also more accessible education for all! We will have smaller course in more states, to give you the greater chance of attending. Yes, I’m coming to you! Be afraid! Get ready for the new www.resus.com.au in a few weeks time – more lectures, more videos, more teaching! So Keep the Great Work up! Keep striving for excellence! I leave you with one last thing. This is a time of year when many will review their goals and reassess their lives. Purely because of our chosen profession, we are of a character type, that seeks growth and contribution in our lives.

Remember, what you do DOES MATTER! The Knowledge you take into your shift DOES MATTER! You don’t have to complete some incredible gesture of self sacrifice to contribute. You do it every day, through the patients you see, the lives you change and good you do. Success is not about magnanimous gestures. It’s about the little, everyday day things we do. It’s about serving others and remembering the good we can do every day.

Ralph Waldo Emerson’s words sums up a successful life for me:

To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.

So enjoy life! Dance a little, dance a lot! Play, I know you haven’t forgotten how to do that… and remember back to when you were that little boy or girl, take a sprinkle of that innocence, add pure joy and a lot of of love and give yourself and those around you a hug.

Merry Christmas Everyone and a Prosperous and Fulfilling 2012 to you all!