My wife Kathy asked me a philosophical question this week.
We're both 63 years old, have said goodbye to all our parents, have welcomed a new generation (our 14-month-old grandson), served our industries (healthcare and the arts community), and established our legacy (Unity Farm Sanctuary). At what point do we say that we're done enough and transition to supporting what we've already created, versus charging ahead to the next great challenge? The discussion arose because an unexpected philanthropist has approached us with the possibility of creating a significant expansion of our community efforts in Massachusetts - potentially assembling hundreds of acres of nearby land for animal rescue and care, education, "forest bathing", wildlife rehabilitation, and conservation.
We could say no, because we're already feeling the loss of strength and endurance that happens with age. We could avoid the risks since this expansion represents an entirely new level of operating and capital commitments. We could delegate our efforts to date and "downsize" into a small apartment (we don't own much personally) to focus more on leisure. The discussion lasted a few seconds... and we both committed to decades of new 'big, hairy audacious' goals.
Whether that's Mayo Clinic touching the lives of 4 billion people, or our efforts in New England potentially touching the lives of 4 million people, there is no logical reason to temper the expectations we've set for ourselves. Sure, in 20 years we may not spend a day chain sawing hundreds of pounds of fallen timber (as I did this weekend when the winds from Midwest storms impacted our forest), or personally building Sanctuary infrastructure, but that does not diminish our capacity to orchestrate forest management or barn building. We never know what each day will bring at Mayo, our personal lives and the Sanctuary, or the ecosystem around us, but we can commit to living each day, as long as we are able, to complete the tasks made possible by our lifetime of experience. Seize the day!
John D. Halamka, M.D., M.S.
Dwight and Dian Diercks President, Mayo Clinic Platform
Michael D. Brennan, M.D., President's Strategic Initiative Professor
Professor of Emergency Medicine
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science