Ioanna Nixon, Consultant Clinical Oncologist at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and Visiting Professor at the University of Strathclyde, shared on LinkedIn:
“Thoughts of an Oncologist…on birthdays.
Today is my birthday. And it is also Day 2 of my 100 push-ups a day challenge for Cancer Research UK (CRUK)
There will be no extraordinary birthday adventure today. It’s a Wednesday. I’ll be in clinic. There will be patients to see, decisions to make, and probably a hurried coffee somewhere in between. There may be cake. There will definitely be 100 push-ups.
And hopefully, later, there will be time with people I love. We often treat birthdays as though we have to make them extraordinary. The perfect dinner, the extraordinary trip, the most amazing celebration.
This could be because birthdays remind us that time is passing.
Working in oncology has made me think about time differently.
A life does not become meaningful because of a few extraordinary days. It is built in the ordinary ones. A regular Wednesday. Doing work that matters to you. Laughing with a colleague. Coming home to people you love. Moving your body while it allows you to. Being valued, and making sure the people around you know that you value them too.
Maybe we don’t need to wait for birthdays to celebrate being alive.
It is a privilege to grow older.
So today I’m celebrating my birthday exactly where life happens: in the middle of an ordinary Wednesday. And that is more than OK. I’m doing my 100 push-ups for everyone who would give almost anything for another birthday. If you would like to mark mine, please consider donating to Cancer Research UK. Even a small donation would mean far more to me than a birthday present.
Here’s to getting older.
And to making the ordinary days count.”