By Sami Bég, MD
Recently I came upon the March 2007 copy of Readers Digest. The article, “Before Everybody Loved Raymond” by Phil Rosenthal caught my attention. I’m sure you have heard of the comedy, “Everybody Loves Raymond.” It is about a guy who, together with his wife and kids, lives across the street from his parents.
The show is hilarious. The comedy was the brainchild of two main players – Ray Romano and Phil Rosenthal. But interestingly, Ray Romano, the main actor, had not acted before he starred in the show. He had been a stand-up comic for years, but that was about it. Yet the show was on for nine years, being nominated for 70 Emmys and winning 15.
So what was the secret?
I believe that it’s the same thing that is making U.S. Preventive Medicine® a success.
Talking about Ray, Phil Rosenthal writes, “But because he cared so much about being believable, he did not want to do anything in our first year of the show, 1996, that he did not do in real life.”
At U.S. Preventive Medicine®, that is what we try to do. We try to walk the talk, as the expression goes. We understand that we cannot promote anything that we do not do in real life. Since prevention is what we want everyone to embrace, we are first embracing it ourselves.
Rosenthal writes, “I wanted this show with Raymond to be about something of lasting value. Why build something temporary? I looked at my TV and saw its content cluttered with the illusion of entertainment: sets and costumes, hairstyles, actors, shoes, boobs, all flashing so fast in front of you that at the end of the half-hour, you thought you were entertained. I thought our show would stand out if we went the other way.”
A guy who lives across the street from his parents, just like the concept of prevention, doesn’t sound too exciting. Like in the entertainment world, a lot of companies out there are “flashing” health so fast that you feel that they are looking out for your best interests. But in the end it is just the illusion of health because, as we all know, true health is in prevention.
I began this message with the suggestion that “everybody loves you” based on the article I read. However that’s unrealistic since no one of us is so perfect as to be loved unanimously. But at the same time I am sure each one of us is loved enough by someone that we want to be there for them. Maybe its your Mom, Dad, your wife, or husband, your kids, siblings, friends, or a combination of these and other people you know. Or may be you just want to grow old with your spouse or one day spoil your grandkids to exact revenge on your children.
Whatever your reasons, you are needed and loved enough for your health to be a priority… for you to have more good years.
Here is to the power of prevention and practicing it. Here is to better health for all of us.