Member-only story
The Thinking Chair
Most of us have no place to do what matters most: think
“Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.” — Marcus Aurelius
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A few weeks before I was to celebrate my 25-year anniversary at the hospital where I worked, I received a catalog in the mail. The catalog was much like the ones we used to get delivered from Sears, also called the Sears Wish Book. It was filled with toys and Christmas-related merchandise, and my children loved to look and dream with that catalog before the holidays during the 1970s and ’80s.
The catalog that I received had no items for children. It was designed with nurses in mind. Instead of giving us a gold watch after years of service, management decided we could pick what we most wanted from a collection of beautiful items. Items like diamond earrings, Orrefors crystal, fancy table settings, bicycles, or, yes, a reclining chair.
I picked the chair that looked like a Scandinavian-designed model called Stressless, meaning "without stress." My family thought we had enough places to sit and did not need another chair, but I was dreaming of the day I would retire and enjoy the luxury of sitting without time restraints or worries.
