Well that day is upon us again, or it passed a few weeks ago, depending on when you’re reading this. It’s time to celebrate a major portion of the British Empire voting to leave a large government and downsize to a smaller leaner independent island. No I’m not talking Brexit here, my dear NYC podiatry patients- it’s the good old US and A, and a celebration of our independence as a country. And with that it’s time to initiate our own individual independence, from the tyranny of inertia, the shackles of monotony, and the bonds of our worst prison- our own comfort zones.

I cannot tell a lie to my dear patients; I had a bit of a hard run yesterday. It was hot as Long Island, I was tired and I had a headache. But I plodded on, step by hot step, inch by humid inch, because, my NYC podiatry friends, the only way home is through the finish line. At the risk of sounding parental- and just stop reading here if you’ve heard this before or don’t want to be lectured by a guy with an above average number of kids- we grow when we are challenged and step outside our comfort zones. It’s the point during the run when I feel the most tired and beaten that I try the hardest, because that’s the time, when I’m feeling it, that I’m burning fat, building muscle, gaining endurance, and kicking some major asphalt. At least I think so. “We work our jobs, collect our pay, believe we’re gliding down the highway when in fact we’re slip sliding away,” said the poet of Forest Hills, Mr. Paul Simon. And we do that every day, and aren’t always challenged, or excited, or enthusiastic. But then a challenge comes along- at work, school, home, in a race, field or obstacle course and we find it in ourselves to push forward, leave our comfort zones and “try just a little bit harder,” said the poet of the Bay, Mr. Jerome John Garcia. But don’t stop there, there’s another goal to be met just ahead. Otherwise, it’s just boring.

So this Independence Day, make your own fireworks. Do something a bit different, challenging, or just hard. Or just sit on the beach and have another wine spritzer. There’s always tomorrow…

See you in the office.

Ernest Isaacson