Four Years at ML
Getting my steps in with my favorite guy.
August 16 marked four years since I moved away from Kirkland, WA, and December 29 marks four years at Moose Lodge. It seems like just last year. If you sat me down back in those days and told me what I was about to go through, I’m not sure I’d have done it. It would sound terrifying beyond my imagination.
The actual experience has been anything but, but if I were to go back and talk to my old self, I’m not sure I’d be able to reason with him about what was ahead. The reality is that the whole thing has been magical and exciting, difficult, painful, and everything in between. On top of all that, it’s been very costly. I got through every obstacle thrown at me, and I’ve come out better as a result. I’m a very different human now, having lived through all of it, and far more aware of our mortality than I was when I was sitting in my family room in Kirkland contemplating my decision to leave.
When I think back, I’m not sure I would have survived everything I endured if I were still in Kirkland. It’s such a different culture here, and it made me more self-aware just being here. I’m not sure I’d get the same standard of care there. For one, the medical community is tight-knit here, and people remember me. I get the constant benefit of the general kindness of people around this place who helped me get through it all. More than all that, Kirkland was a very noisy place. Jets were constantly flying overhead on their way into SeaTac, and I didn’t know what quiet and intense concentration were really like.
I’m a far more effective CEO here in Missouri than I would be in New York City if I went into the office every day. For one, I have no commute out here other than the occasional flight to NYC. Instead, I can get up and just start working. The whole experience out here makes me ultra-productive. Maybe it all would have been fine if I’d remained in Kirkland, but what actually happened turned out better than I expected.
Cheers to another four years at Moose Lodge. I hope I’m through the worst.