Posted March 15, 2009 in Blog, Plastic Surgery in the News, Uncategorized
One of the most frequently asked questions today is, “So Doc, how is the economy affecting your practice?” Fortunately I am busy, spending office hours taking care of patients, preparing a presentation for Facial Cosmetic Surgery 2009, and answering many patient questions online. The Los Angeles Business Journal will be running a story in the next week or so in which I am interviewed about facial plastic surgery and the economy. I left out a few points in the interview that I wish to share with you now. This economy has been, is, and likely will be for some time very bad for all of us. Too many of us judge our “self” worth based upon our “net” worth, but the two are independent. We may have lost some of our “net” worth in the recent economy (just ask Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, Mr. Gates went from being the 3’rd wealthiest to 1’st this year by losing $25 billion last year), but we never need lose our “self” worth. Our self worth is not related to money, portfolios, or property values, but to how we treat each other, as in “love your neighbor as yourself”, the title of the latest book by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin. We may lose some money, but no matter what else is taken away from us, no one can take away our ability to help one another, our ability to nice to each other. Acts of kindness and charity that are given during this down time will be magnified, appreciated, and remembered for a lifetime by needy recipients; much more so than in otherwise “comfortable” times. It costs nothing to be kind. So how is this economy affecting my practice? It has given me an increased sense of the needs and plights of others, an opportunity to help with kindness, and a greater incentive to support charitable causes. Be well.
