No winners: if they fail, so do we

As I was being prepped for surgery recently, I had a few thoughts: I wonder what it’s like to come out of anesthesia, will I be able to walk after and how many surgeries has this doctor done before.

Then I start wondering about the doctor, I know nothing about him. Was he the top of his class or the best surgeon the hospital had to offer? Or did he almost flunk out of medical school? What if he had morals and values I didn’t agree with? Would I feel comfortable knowing his home life, views or religion?

Probably not because if they did not fit with mine, I would be uneasy going into a situation only he has control over. I did not choose this surgeon, somebody else chose him for me. However, he was MY surgeon that day.

No matter what my thoughts were about this doctor, he was about to cut me open and change my life for a while. One thing was certain, I do not want him to fail, because if he fails, I fail. I read the warnings and side effects before going into the procedure, I knew what to expect and what to worry about. Maybe he wasn’t the worst surgeon, or maybe he was, but it didn’t matter now because I was in his control. I wanted him to succeed, because if he succeeds so do I.

I think a lot of us need to remember this analogy about the election of our presidents. It is sad that some people want a president to fail because he belongs to a different party than they believe in. Although I didn’t want Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump to be elected president of the United States, I definitely did not wish ill upon them or want them to fail. I did not wish them to fail because if they fail, so do we.

There are no winners in a bad surgery and no winners in a divided nation. Together we stand united.