Several years ago, fate intervened to inspired Gary LeRoy, MD, FAAFP to write a book. With the editing assistance of Ohio Academy of Family Physicians Executive Vice President Ann Spicer, he submitted the manuscript for “Quotes from the Edge of Nowhere – The Art of Noticing Unnoticed Life Wisdom” for publication later this year. Rather than wait for its fall release, he asked the OAFP staff to give Academy members something to fill up about 30 minutes of their quiet time.
It is his hope that a chapter or two will provide some element of hope or ignite an amber of inspiration during the moments of solitude of this unprecedented global crisis, COVID-19. If nothing else, it will give those who take the time to read each little chapter something to mentally reflect upon.
Until the COVID-19 crisis officially ends, the OAFP will publish one chapter each week in the Weekly Family Medicine Update and then archive that chapter on its website. The book has 10 chapters. It is Dr. LeRoy’s sincere hope that we, as a nation, emerge from this crisis long before the OAFP can publish the 10th and final chapter.
Chapter 7: “You have to go past knowledge and truth in the dictionary before you arrive at WISDOM.”
How can anyone find wisdom without first achieving an awareness about the deficit of knowledge? How can anyone acquire knowledge without a willingness to educate themselves with facts? How can anyone achieve an education of enduring value without verifiable truth as its foundation? Only after we have gone through the progressive steps on the “alphabetical path” can we arrive at the final destination where wisdom awaits. Dare to take the unconventional path through life. Misfits among us who walk on a path toward wisdom clearly see a future shrouded from the eyes of those trapped in the darkness of a social status quo.
Sometimes life’s circumstances lead us down paths we dare not go voluntarily, only to deposit us into seemingly inescapable situations. We can choose to sit in the darkness seeking salvation by screaming out that we have lost our way, or we can call upon our higher inner vision of faith. With hope, faith, and knowledge we can stand up to the unseen obstacles of our existence to emerge victorious at a bright, unimagined destination.
Enjoy reading Chapter 7.
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