We’ve all been glued to our televisions this past 2 weeks, watching the disaster in Haiti unfold. It’s been incredible to watch the devastation, the rush to help the survivors, the incredible spirit of the Haitian people. I watched one woman who was buried alive and stuck for 36 hours before they got her out. Her husband waited the whole time, believing she was alive and focusing efforts to get her out. And when she was finally evacuated from the building, she sang a song of thankfulness.

Then I watched Anderson Cooper as he did some interviews and talked to a young man who was buried alive, who lost his mother and father, and was when he was rescued he was dehydrated and weak. Two days later he was smiling and when Anderson asked him how he was, he said “I’m fine.”

I am astounded and amazed at the spirit these people are demonstrating in the face of this overwhelming adversity. And I have to confess, I am humbled by this demonstration of accepting life in all its manifestations. I too often sit around and whine about the circumstances I find myself in – and believe me, they are NOTHING compared to what these people are experiencing. Earlier this week I lost power for 3 hours…3 hours and I was ready to move to mom’s. I had food and shelter, I was safe, it wasn’t that cold, it was daylight so I could see. I certainly was not singing a song of thankfulness.

Too often I find myself whining about things in my life, my job, my association. But as I’ve watched the grace and courage of these people manifest itself throughout this whole disaster, I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to quit whining. If something isn’t as good as I think it could be or should be, then I just need to find a way to make it better. For me, for my family, for my co-workers and for my association.

Will I really quit whining? Probably not. But I will definitely get up each day and sing a song of thankfulness that I’m alive, that I have a job, that my family is intact, and that my association continues to identify a way for us to have a future in this evolving healthcare world.

For all of this I’m thankful.