Doctor Curmudgeon® “Times That Try Men’s Souls”

By Diane Batshaw Eisman, M.D. FAAP Doctor Eisman, is in Family Practice in Aventura, Florida with her partner, Dr. Eugene Eisman, an internist/cardiologist

It was on December 19, 1776, that these words appeared in the “Pennsylvania Journal,” authored by Thomas Paine.

“These are the times that try men’s souls; the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”

We live in such indescribable, agonizing, horrific times that I have no words. How can I even begin to describe the suffering, the bravery of the Ukrainian people and their President, Volodymyr Zelensky, and the brutality reigned upon them? Formerly, a “news junkie,” I am unable to watch for more than a few minutes at a time. My beloved print newspaper that lands regularly on my doorstep withers in its neglect; as I have only enough fortitude to scan it.

Crossword puzzles remain unsolved.

Therefore, I seek refuge in naps.

There were great men who sought refreshment and sanctuary in their own rituals of napping.

Sir Winston Churchill, who served his country in times of great crisis, retired to his daily nap. It has been told that he had a bed in the Houses of Parliament and he felt that his napping helped him through those turbulent times.

President John Kennedy refreshed himself with daily naps; and Jackie Kennedy even advised his successor, President Lyndon Johnson, to adopt this technique. She felt that her husband’s naps had helped him to weather the difficulties of leading a nation.

Albert Einstein believed that his daily naps boosted his ability to think creatively. And there is a tale that may be apocryphal: his Theory of Special Relativity came to him in a dream in which cows were being electrocuted. There is another legend about Einstein and his naps. It has been told that he was so serious about his ritual that he used a trick also employed b Salvador Dali (supposedly learned from Capuchin Monks). Einstein did not want to over indulge in the time spent napping. And so, he slouched in his chair, with a spoon in his hand. A metal plate was on the floor. When he fell asleep, the spoon would drop from his hand and he would awaken. This was his creative micro-nap

After a few minutes of the news of the day, I find I must stream TV of some kind. This is the time that I find myself drifting off.

My nap does not last long and I awaken feeling horror as I am brought back to my own trying time and the events through which so many are now suffering.

There is no solace to be found when there are anguished souls and tears being shed all over the civilized world.

Dr. Curmudgeon suggests “Bitter Medicine”, Dr. Eugene Eisman’s story of his experiences–from the humorous to the intense—as a young army doctor serving in the Vietnam War.

Bitter Medicine by Eugene H. Eisman, M.D. –on Amazon

Doctor Curmudgeon® is Diane Batshaw Eisman, M.D., a physician-satirist. This column originally appeared on SERMO, the leading global social network for doctors.

SERMO www.sermo.com “talk real world medicine”