by Bishan Rajapakse, MBChB, PhD

At the moment my world is inundated with study, work and exams.

As I am progressing through the arduous and challenging journey of completing specialist training in Emergency medicine, most aspects of my life outside medicine have taken a back seat, to dedicate focus towards the path of learning the matrix of what is is to be a specialist. I am doing what I feel is effective, and and have learned to possibly be helpful, such as reading widely in books, attending practice exams, studying alone and in groups. I have sometimes been sharing the highs and lows with others on the path, but mostly experiencing them alone, in a solitude that will never be known to the world at large (apart from in daring writings such at this).

Every time I try and logically explain the benefits of meditation– it doesn’t equate to the actual benefit.

Today I wake up with 4 hours sleep after a grueling day– and still have a smile largely because I woke up and sat for 5 minutes in silence, listening through awareness to my little nephew being dressed by my brother in the other room.

I am here, present, aware, and conscious.

Now I have a dream of surfing in the ocean today- whether it comes true is irrelevant to some degree- because during that present state awareness- I already have experienced surfing through imagination.

In a sense meditation allows me to simulate beneficial activities. I also simulated something that I am avoiding- like studying. I will now get up and try to do some questions as part of my exam prep.

Celebrating success

Celebrating success,
Is perhaps the real test,

Cherishing what has been already achieved,
Instead of allowing the glory to be thieved,

By the next goal,
And other reasons for not feeling whole,

Instead be in the know,
Like a boarder gliding through the snow,

With awareness of life’s ebb and flow,
In the act of a single breath.

Two days away from the hustle bustle of emergency medicine and I feel like a new person. A little meditation, some surf and hint of life music has such a healing touch. Sometimes in the space between the business and intensity of an active work-life lies the balance that perhaps we all strive for.  I by no means have found the perfect balance, but I feel that I am moving towards it experimenting in with work, and relaxation in a variety of forms. It is a daily practice rooted in breathing and the exploration of philosophies that brings meaning into my life.

We can always find our own definition of success, and it doesn’t have to require a definite endpoint. To date the best definition of success I have come across has been one that I heard from a person called Earl Nightingale who was a motivational speaker from the 60’s: “Success is the step-wise realization of a worthy ideal.”