Stoicism!

In the current issue of Maclean’s magazine, they feature an interview with Canada’s former health minister Jane Philpott – a trained family doctor herself – who is about to lead Ontario’s new primary-care “action team”. When asked about her own sick-person personality, she answered “I’ve never taken a sick day.” To which the interviewer gasped in amazement, “What?!”
No gasp of ”what!?” here. Because that little exchange reminded me of my own upbringing. My late mother (who died a couple of years ago at age 100), was pretty stoical: me and my sisters were raised to apply mind over matter to our lives, and not complain about our health unless it was really serious. I’m not sure if I totally understood the value of that at the time, but now, I have to tell you, when it comes to my own health, I support this 100% and consider myself lucky to have been raised that way.
Our healthcare system is overworked. Go to the Emergency Department of any hospital and you’ll find waiting lines of people complaining about one thing or another. But too often, the folks who work at my local hospital tell me, they have people complaining about “minor things like headaches”. Now, I’m not wanting to boast, but I’ve never had a headache in my life, let alone the migraines people grumble about. Sure, I feel sympathy for those with really bad headaches (indeed, migraines must be devastating, and I’m lucky to never have had one), but if ever I experience any assault on my health, I’m pretty good at changing my focus to something else and ignoring the insult to my health. I get on with getting on.
So, I hear ya Ms. Philpott: well done! Keep your no-sick-day record alive and kicking!!
 

---