The luckiest generation

The first batch of baby boomers has been turning 60 since 2005, 60 years after the end of the Second World War. To my mind, the baby boomers—myself included—are the luckiest generation ever.

We were able to appreciate the world when it progressed at a much slower rate, and we are also able to adapt to the fast-moving world of today.

We are able to appreciate nature when we travel. We look out of trains at the scenery rather than focusing on our latest portable IT gadget, whatever it may be.

We appreciate the relaxed feeling that comes after exerting our physical body in vigorous exercise. We also like Wii, but do not use it to replace real exercise.

We enjoy life, and we also appreciate the virtue of hard work. While maintaining a good quality of life is essential to us, we also know the value of saving money in the bank. Statistics tell us that wealth accumulation is higher among baby boomers. We are also aware that the younger generations are more inclined to enjoy life, rather than being work-driven like their parents and grandparents.

We know about the joy of writing and receiving letters, but we also appreciate the instantaneous advantage of e-mail and are quite ready to use it or learn how to use it. We are definitely better at spelling.

Call it the bias of the older generations, but I do think we are better equipped to appreciate the arts and craftsmanship of older times. This is because we were brought up in a period when the world moved at a slower pace.

We have the best of both worlds—an older one and the current one—and I am grateful for that.

Having made these observations, I remind myself that, to better understand the younger generations, I must keep an open mind. As a researcher, I should know that humans are easily blinded by prior experiences and perceptions. I remind myself that I must not become so set in my ways that I am unable to see the virtues of generations other than mine.

For Reflections on Nursing Leadership (RNL), published by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International.

Life after cancer

Readers of my blog may wonder what I am up to in my life after cancer. Well, life goes on as usual.

When I first went back to work, I felt fine. I was able to keep my cool and maintain a fairly good balance between work and rest. As time goes by, I find myself increasingly drawn to more and more work, and needing to stay up later and later into the night. This is not a good sign. I am still trying to find a new and healthy balance.

One important impact of cancer on my life is that I have started to exercise regularly. No, not exercising three times a week for half an hour each time, but hiking weekly. Above the village behind the housing estate where I live, there is a path that, after a 45-minute walk up and down the hill, converges with the MacLehose Trail, a country-park hiking trail. Every Saturday or Sunday, I make an effort to hike this path. Sometimes, when I don’t feel like going, I tell myself that it is a medicine that I must take, given the Hong Kong-based evidence that shows a positive association between exercise (or lack of it) and occurrence of breast cancer. Sometimes, when I miss my weekend hike, I try to make it up in the middle of the following week.

Those who hike will know that it is not easy to find a hiking partner. Everyone walks at a different tempo, some fast, some slow and some in-between. So I usually hike by myself. Hiking on my home trail—I call it my home trail now—has opened my eyes to the world of nature. I have seen how a snail flips its body trying to shake a bug from its shell. I have seen wild pigs running down the hill, snakes slither across a path and into the grass again, and sometimes, more alarmingly, wild dogs. I always take a hiking stick with me, not for hiking, but to frighten away menacing dogs. I have become much more aware that I am close to nature, observing different flowers that blossom at different times of the year, or fruit trees that I never noticed before. Hong Kong has 7 million people, and it is hard to find a spot where you don’t run into anyone. But, sometimes, I do not run into anyone up on the hill, and it is as if I have all that nature to myself. Such beauty and tranquility!

Occasionally, when I am alone, I ask myself what cancer means to me. There is also a slight fear that I may have forgotten something important about surviving cancer. Sometimes I feel I don’t know what the important lesson was, while, at other times, I believe the key lesson is that I should remember that a good life is about loving and forgiving. Essentially, life goes on as usual after cancer. And that is already very comforting.

For Reflections on Nursing Leadership (RNL), published by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International.