Gratitude
“”
– voltaire
Monday, February 19th, 2024
I want to begin by expressing my profound gratitude.
For you. For all that you’re up to. For your presence in my life and your continued participation and trust in Fearless Communicators and our greater Fearless community.
I had a fall at the end of October and severed the tendon that connects my quadriceps to my knee. Since the end of November I’ve had three leg surgeries. One was the initial repair to the tendon. Six weeks later I re-injured the leg and went back into surgery for the same issue.
My dear friends and colleagues have informed me that the lesson in left leg injuries is around RECEIVING and in the knee specifically around FLEXIBILITY. Clearly there was more learning to be had, so at the end of January had surgery again to repair the tendon.
Last Friday, I noticed my leg swelling and over the course of the next 24 hours it got progressively worse. On Saturday afternoon I started feeling a post-surgery level of pain in my leg. After three tries, I finally got a hold of my doctor and on February 10th made my way to the Emergency Room in Manhattan.
Tired, on crutches and in pain I made a conscious choice as I approached the window to be admitted into the Emergency Room. I told myself that I was going to begin EVERY CONVERSATION WITH GRATITUDE.
I looked at the gentleman who was just starting his shift and said, “Before I give you my ID and my insurance card, I want to begin by expressing my profound gratitude for you. I know it’s a weekend and you have a long shift ahead of you, and I want you to know that I’m grateful for the care and consideration you’re going to give me. I’m in pain and I’m tired, and I trust that you are here to be a partner in my receiving extraordinary care.”
He looked up.
Shocked.
He softened.
HE SAW ME, BECAUSE I BEGAN BY SEEING HIM.
I said the same thing to the nurse who started taking my vitals and instead of sitting in the waiting room, I was immediately put on a bed and wheeled to see the on call orthopedic emergency resident.
I repeated the practice with the ER nurses, the woman who confirmed my insurance and ID (who literally told through tears that my acknowledgement made her day, her week and her month), with the ambulance drivers who had to take me to another hospital to continue to administer tests on the leg, with everyone at the second emergency room I was taken to at 11PM that same evening . . .
I woke up the following morning at 7:45AM, repeated the gratitude to the Orthopedic resident standing over my bed, where she informed me that they had discovered a pseudo aneurysm behind the knee and that I would be undergoing emergency vascular surgery in 25 minutes. I was under the care of one of the best Vascular surgeons in NYC and that my Orthopedic surgeon was also going to be in the room.
I was wheeled into the operating theater and there was a flurry of equipment and human beings, all strangers, getting the room and me ready for the procedure. As the two surgeons walked in, I called them and said to them,
“Please bring the entire team here.”
Everyone stopped what they were doing and approached me, laying down on the narrow, cold surgical table.
I looked at them all and then said, “Before this surgery I want to express my profound and deepest gratitude for the care you are going to give me. For the sacrifices you made in service of your medical training, for the countless hours of study, practice and preparation . . .for the struggles you’ve had . . . it’s a Sunday morning and you are here in this moment with me as agents of my care and well being. For all that has brought you to this moment to offer your best in my healing I want to say thank you!”
THEY HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO SEE ME, BECAUSE I SAW THEM FIRST.
The anesthesia kicked in and I passed out.
I was discharged from the hospital the following evening and continued that practice again, with every human being who walked into the room . . . to deliver food, to clean the room, to draw blood and take my vitals.
I am a little over a week out from this ordeal and luckily none of the orthopedic work was compromised by the emergency vascular surgery. I continue on my healing journey. My leg is locked in a leg brace and I can’t bend my knee until the end of March. The extraordinary Fearless Team has been filling in for me and continue to step up to care for not only me, but also our beloved clients.
As I have been sharing about my Gratitude-a-rama with friends and colleagues, I have been left with an observation and question.
We often express and acknowledge AFTER we experience great care or exceptional service.
What if instead of waiting for gratitude and acknowledgement, we LEAD with it?
I felt like I drew forth the best possible care for myself because I created every single human being around me as an agent and partner in my well being. The look of surprise and shock on EVERY SINGLE FACE when I began my gratitude confirmed how uncommon it was for them to be seen and acknowledged.
And now for a transition to public speaking . . .
Imagine your next public speaking event. Wether it’s a formal opportunity and you’re speaking in front of hundreds of humans, or it’s a presentation for colleagues or potential clients. What if instead of saving your gratitude and acknowledgement until the end, you LEAD WITH IT.
I invite you to approach the event planners, the sound technician, the people who set the room up, the stage manager, your audience, your fellow colleagues, your potential clients . . .
Look them in the eyes . . .
and share deeply from your heart . . .
“Before I begin, I would like to express my profound gratitude . . .”
Wait and watch.
SEE THEM FIRST, ALLOWING THEM TO FULLY SEE YOU.
Magic will happen.
Deeply grateful and always fearlessly yours,
Eduardo
PS- We have a lot of exciting things and announcements coming. Stay tuned. Can’t wait to share.
PSS- I have rebranded the Senior Care Ambulance transport in the picture to Middle-Aged Gay – Here2Slay.
