[voiceover] We are responsible with our patients. The problem is we blow it all out at work. In our own lives, we can't think things through. We don't make the sound choice. We did that all day at the hospital. When it comes to ourselves, we've got nothing left. And is it worth it—being responsible? Because if you take your vitamins and pay your taxes and never cut the line, the universe still gives you people to love and then lets them slip through your fingers like water, and then what have you got? Vitamins and nothing.
[opening voiceover] Renegades, rule-breakers, gangsters with scalpels, this is the way we like to think of ourselves. It makes us feel bad-ass, sexy. Problem is, it's not exactly true. At heart, we're rule-followers, sheep. We don't break protocol. We follow it to a tee. Because if we don't follow protocol, our patients die and we're no longer bad ass, we're just bad.
[closing voiceover] It's every doctor's dilemma. Do you play it safe and follow protocol? Or take a risk and invent a new one? There can be reward in risk. There can also be fallout. Still you need to book the system every once in a while. Bet big. And when you get the results you want, there's no better feeling in the world, but when you don't.
[opening voiceover] After a trauma, your body is at its most vulnerable. Response time is critical. So you're suddenly surrounded by people, doctors, nurses, specialists, technicians; surgery is a team sport. Everyone pushing for the finish line. Putting you back together again. But surgery is a trauma in and of itself, and once it's over, the real healing begins. We call it recovery. Recovery is not a team sport. It's a solitary distance run. It's long. It's exhausting. And it's lonely as hell.
[closing voiceover] The length of your recovery is determined by the extent of your injuries. And it's not always successful. No matter how hard we work at it. Some wounds might never fully heal. You might have to adjust to a whole new way of living. Things may have changed too radically to ever go back to what they were. You might not even recognize yourself. It's like you haven't recovered anything at all. You're a whole new person with a whole new life.
[voiceover] Germs, disease, toxins, our bodies encounter dangers all the time, just beneath the surface, hidden. Whether you realize it or not, your body is constantly protecting itself. Every time you blink your eye, you wash away thousands of unwanted microbes. Breathe in too much unwanted pollen and you sneeze. The body knows when it's encountered something that doesn't belong. The body detects the invader, it releases its white blood cells, and it attacks.
[voiceover] Just when we think we figured things out, the universe throws us a curveball. So, we have to improvise. We find happiness in unexpected places. We find ourselves back to the things that matter the most. The universe is funny that way. Sometimes it just has a way of making sure we wind up exactly where we belong.
[voiceover] We've all heard the saying… It's one of those things we learned in 7th grade science class: "Adapt or die." Adapting isn't easy, though. You have to fight your competition, fend off their attacks. And sometimes, you have to kill. You do what you need to do to survive.
[voiceover] Adapt or die. As many times as we've heard it, the lesson doesn't get easier. The problem is, we're human… we want more than just to survive. We want love. We want success. We want to be the best that we can be. So we fight like hell to get those things. Anything else feels like death.
[voiceover] I always said I'd be happier alone. I'd have my work, my friends - but someone in your life all the time? More trouble than it's worth. Apparently, I got over it.
[voiceover] There's a reason I said I'd be happy alone. It wasn't 'cause I thought I'd be happy alone. It was because I thought if I loved someone and then it fell apart, I might not make it. It's easier to be alone. Because what if you learn that you need love and then you don't have it? What if you like it and lean on it? What if you shape your life around it and then it falls apart? Can you even survive that kind of pain? Losing love is like organ damage. It's like dying. The only difference is death ends. This? It could go on forever.
[voiceover] Even good marriages fail. One minute you're standing on solid ground, the next minute- you're not. And there're always two versions. Yours, and theirs. The both versions start the same way though. The both start with two people falling in love. You think yours is the one that's gonna make it. So it always comes as a shock. The moment you realize it's over. One minute you're standing on solid ground, the next minute, you're not.
[voiceover] Do you have what it takes? If your marriage is in trouble, can you weather the storm? When the ground gives way and your world collapses, maybe you just need to have faith. And trust that you can survive this together. Maybe you just need to hold on tight. And no matter what, don't let go.
[voiceover] When my mother left my father, she didn't tell him she was leaving him and taking me with her until we landed on the other side of the country. And those days, it was called family troubles. Today, it'd be called kidnapping.
[voiceover] You think that true love is the only thing that crush your heart. The thing that will take your life and light it out. Or destroy it. Then, you become a mother.
Grey's Anatomy · 1,393 quotes
Meredith
