New

I'll admit it: changes often make us uncomfortable.

And that's one reason colleagues of mine don't like our recent switch from hospital pagers to mobile phones that much. We tend toward inertia; we need probing. But change we must. Always resist the status quo, I've been taught, and if pressed by inertia, unlock our habits step by step. This requires quite a bit of force, I know. Pacific Coffee has opened a shop in my hospital two months ago, and that seems to be a change pretty well received. No, I mean very well, and well enough so that people look happier at the new hub.

Yet, I am still sticking to my old habit and continue to buy coffee at a much-less-famous coffee store of social enterprises. What could be more addictive than drinking the same coffee in the morning?

Lest you think I'm as stubborn as Ebenezer Scrooge, let me tell you one new change that I embrace this month. A new public library right next to my hospital! I simply can't resist skipping my lunch to dote on this treasure-trove. Voilà, here are the two best gifts I found yesterday: a 383-page Classic Treasury First Poems (yeah, for my daughter) and Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well (written by the authors of international bestseller Difficult Conversations).