"Just a Heartbeat Away"

We've talked about your business serving your life. Our strategic objectives are created, implemented and monitored to assure ourselves we are contributing to our Primary Aim/Life Purpose. The Strategic Objective at Business Development Resources is designed to contribute to my Life Purpose, which I committed to paper in 1997: "To be present with my own thoughts and feelings in such a way that it allows me to hear and feel others. I then can give to them my greatest gift, my heart. For the more I can share my heart the more my heart grows" I haven't been feeling well these past 3 months. But as an active mountain bike rider and runner, I thought I simply needed to rest. Rest I did, but nothing changed. When I rode or ran, I felt great; it was just hard to get motivated to start the ride or the run. Last month my wife, Laurie, sent me off to one of her doctor friends (Laurie is a nurse) for a check-up. Arriving at his office, we talked about some of the reasons I thought contributed to my being sluggish. May be true says the Doc, but let's have a complete physical on July 2. So I arrived at the office on Wednesday, July 2, as agreed. Going through the standard routine of height, weight and blood pressure checks, I thought about the upcoming 4th weekend. I was ushered to the examination room and was told the EKG would be next. Lying on the table, the nurse completed the process and off she went. Then Marc Shapiro, MD, arrived. Taking a moment to review the notes from the last visit, he then moved to the EKG results. He seemed confused and called the nurse to again run the test. She wasn't available so he began the process. Why we doing this again, I asked? He just mumbled. As the machine spit out a trail of paper, he kept looking at it like a ticker tape; moving very quickly along the printout. Then the questions; Any chest pain? Any fainting? How did you get the scratch on your head? What's up, I asked. In a very calm way he said, "You may need a pacemaker." What! Out of the room he goes to make a call to his friend, the cardiopulmonary specialist. Back he comes saying he wants me over at his friend's office today. More questions. Then I begin to recall some things that have been different the past four months. He becomes both anxious and upset. He goes back to his phone. Returning from the second call to his cohort Peter Chang-Sing, MD, he announces that I have two choices; get a pacemaker now or forget my future plans. I was fortunate in that moment. My heart had dropped to 31 beats per minute like it apparently has been doing for some time. Marc went on to say I had a tired sinus node in my heart.