| Living a Life that Counts by Melvin Cheatham, MD, with Mark Cutshall. Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, 1995, 212 pp. |
It’s not often that a neurosurgeon writes a book on the socioeconomics of healthcare. This book, written by one of our own, asks the basic question, What are you going to do with the rest of your life? That question ought to get everyone’s attention.
In his book, Melvin Cheatham ,MD, reports that “asking and living this question have taken me from pursuing a life of success, defined by status, performance, and increased emptiness, to discovering a life of significance, which, in the last 10 years, has been shaped and guided by everything opposite from what I had been taught to follow.” He discovered the timeless truth that serving other people is at the heart of living a life that counts.
Dr. Cheatham is a Christian and that motivates everything he does. He outlines what must happen when faith, motivation, and action come together. He frankly recounts the story of his life and the events that transformed his thinking. The diagnosis of hypercholesterolemia at an early age made him think seriously about his mortality. He discovered, through examples of others committed to living lives of service, that there is more to life than trying to please oneself.
You will enjoy the stories about neurosurgeons Bill Williamson, Charlie Brackett and Bill James as mentors, but will identify most readily with examples that Dr. Cheatham tells from his own life as a neurosurgeon. He cites thrilling episodes of adventure while serving in Somalia, Rwanda and Bosnia, as well as comparatively mundane tales from his practice in southern California. Through his own stories and the testimony of others who have touched his life, you will learn of people who overcame adversity to live lives that count.
Although the book reads quickly and easily, this is not a book that can be skimmed. Each of the 10 chapters is followed by a page of hard, soul-searching questions for the reader to answer. Questions such as: When was the last time one of these three consequences caused you to say, I can’t?
- The challenge that comes with trying
- The sacrifice that comes with giving
- The loss that comes with risking oneself
Dr. Cheatham’s advice is earthshaking, but it’s also practical. You and I can’t serve an entire country, a city or even a group all at once. But we can serve one person. Serving one person at a time gives us a realistic finish line we can see and run toward with confidence. He believes the adage that a ship in harbor is safe, but safety is not what ships are for. He says, “We were created to sail, and the only way I know to do that is to be willing to trust God who will guide us to the people He’s prepared for us to meet and serve.”
I haven’t enjoyed a neurosurgeon’s book this much since Edgar Kahn, MD, wrote Journal of a Neurosurgeon.
Mel Cheatham is the recipient of the 1995 AANS Humanitarian Award. Thank you, Mel, for writing this book. We all need to answer your questions. We all need to periodically pause in our rat race and ask ourselves the question, “What am I going to do with the rest of my life?”
Gary Vander Ark, MD, is a senior partner of Rocky Mountain Neurosurgical Alliance, Englewood, Colo., and past president of the Colorado Medical Society. He is the recipient of the 2001 AANS Humanitarian Award.