A Letter From The Past

I went through an interesting exercises 3 years ago, at the start my residency. During orientation week, each one of the new incoming interns was asked to draft a letter to one's self, and then it would be delivered back to us sometime during our first year of residency.

About three months into residency I found a curious letter in my work mailbox. Dated 6/19/06 and addressed to Alex Hamling, #1 coolest intern.

The reads as follows:

Dear Alex,

I'm writing you during the second day of orientation to see how you're doing after a few a few months of internship [sic]. I'm sure things are going well. I hope you've made a lot of new friends, gone on a few dates, and still have big plans to look forward to.

Say "Hi" to Kristina for me. Just keep following these few simple rules: 1 Keep on smiling; 2 Have fun; 3 Stay active; 4 Don't get fat; 5 Keep your eyes and ears open; 6 Never stop loving; and 7 Never stop calling your friends.

I hope this note leaves you well and in good spirits.

Best of Luck,

Lots of Love,

Alex

I hope I've been faithful to myself and followed these 7 simple rules over the past three years.

It's rare that I don't have on a smile, and it's hard to catch me not laughing when I'm with friends. I always try to look for new adventures to broaden my horizons and keep a good attitude with me for wherever I go or for whatever I do. I've been a member of the Urban Active since starting residency and that's helped to keep the "on call - guilt free, fat free foods" from effecting my waist line too much. I haven't let the 80 hrs/week and 30 hrs/shift detour me from my journey for searching for true love. And lastly, all too often I find myself going over my cellular minutes because of keeping in touch with close friends and always making new plans for the week.

Thanks for reading,

Alex