“I’m glad I’m not young anymore”

The author, a physician in late middle age reflects on his own medical career, the aging of those who have taught him and also of those whom he has taught. He describes the sense of ennui and déjà vu . The things that seemed important as a younger doctor seem less important. He has adopted a different paradigm and has come to see that both playfulness and integrity are essential ingredients for health. As a sailor, he more keenly appreciates the struggles our patients and colleagues have with illness and draws an analog between sailing and life.