A couple of weeks ago I helped my 11-year-old daughter clean out the aquarium. It is a bit labor intensive and requires several hands. The big worry - the aquarium is in my daughter's room - I would never get the fish smell out of the carpet if an accident were to happen!

We worked together to siphon the dirty water into a couple of work buckets, scooped up Otis the large gold fish, put him into a different bowl, kept the other smaller fish Bruce in the aquarium, washed off all of the rocks and pebbles from the aquarium out in the front yard, exchanged the old water filter with a new one, and replaced everything - fresh lukewarm water, rocks, pebbles, and seaweed into the cleaned aquarium.

I tell this story because I often think I can relate to those fish and what they go through - not knowing what is going on, feeling incredibly uncomfortable in your new surroundings, uncertain what the end results will eventually be.
What I am referring to is: change.

I don't necessarily like change; I am such a creature of habit - it is truly scary. I get up the same time every day. My morning routine is very similar every day. How many of us take the same roads to work day after day, year after year? I could take many roads home, but do I? No. In our offices it's nice to have consistency, but sometimes to our detriment.

Just seeing how those fish act during this process of change is interesting. While in the bowl they seem agitated, nervous, and uneasy - little do they know that this is essential for their continued life.

My suggestion: Change often! Try a different way to do things often. Change up your new patient exams, your financial policy, the d