Big Picture : Getting Perspective on What's Really Important in Life

by Ben Carson with Gregg Lewis

• ISBN13: 9780310225836
• ISBN10: 0310225833
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-02-01
• Publisher: Zondervan

Summary

In his grade school days, Ben Carson would hardly have been voted "most likely to become a famous surgeon." His classmates had already given him another label: class dummy. Then a light clicked on for Ben-and a consuming passion for learning that catapulted him from "zero" test grades to a Yale scholarship, a pioneering role in modern medicine, and an influence that has extended from inner-city schools to corporate boardrooms and Washington corridors of power. What made the difference? Belief in his own potential, a commitment to education and making the most of his opportunities to learn, determination to make the world a better place, and faith in a God who knows no limits. Seeing the Big Picture. In The Big Picture, Ben Carson reveals the spiritual and philosophical foundations that undergird not just his dramatic career, but his approach to all of life. As in his best-selling Gifted Hands Dr. Carson shares colorful behind-the-scenes anecdotes. As in Think Big, he describes his practical principles for success. But The Big Picture is more than an autobiography or a personal-effectiveness manual. Rather, it's a multifaceted look at the faith and vision that can see us all through hardship and failure, and stir us to bold exploits on behalf of something greater than ourselves. Dr. Carson begins by describing how he cultivated a Big-Picture perspective in his own life. Then he discusses ways to which all of us can approach parenting, family, business and friendships with the Big Picture in mind. Finally he looks at some pressing social issues-in particular, racial diversity, health care, and education-and considers how we ought to view them and what we should do about them in light of the Big Picture. Drawing on a vast array of experiences in roles ranging from trailblazing surgeon to public speaker, to husband and family man, Ben Carson shows how we can turn the course of our lives, out communities, our country, and our world by keeping the Big Picture always in mind.

Table of Contents

Contents

PART ONE: SEEING THE BIG PICTURE

Prologue

1. The South African Twins — Why?

2. A Set of Twins from Zambia

3. An Impossible Operation

4. Getting the Big Picture

5. Seeing the Big Picture

PART TWO: A CLOSE-UP VIEW OF THE BIG PICTURE

6. Seeing Hardship as Advantage

7. Moving Beyond a Victim Mentality

8. Parenting: Life’s Most Important

Responsibility

9. Determining Priorities and

Making Choices

10. Being Nice, Doing Good

PART THREE: THE WIDE-ANGLE VIEW OF THE BIG PICTURE

11. What Ails America? Racial Diversity

Is a Strength

12. Finding a Cure For Racial Division

13. Education: The Great Equalizer

14. Diagnosing the Crisis in Health Care

15. Revolutionizing Health Care: One Doctor’s Prescription

Excerpts

Chapter OneThe South African Twins--Why?One day in January 1994 I received a long-distance call at work. "I think you need to talk to this gentleman," my office manager told me. So I picked up the phone."Dr. Benjamin Carson?" I could not place the accent, but having spent a year living and working in Australia, I immediately recognized the "proper" British influence in the man''s careful enunciation."This is Dr. Carson," I told him."I am so pleased to speak to you, Dr. Carson," the man said. "My name is Dr. Samuel Mokgokong. I am professor of neurosurgery at the Medical University of South Africa at Medunsa." Now the accent fit."How may I help you?"Dr. Mokgokong quickly explained that he had under his care a set of South African Siamese twins whose case seemed similar to that of the Binder twins, whom I had helped separate seven years earlier. Because of that successful surgery, Dr. Mokgokong was hoping I would be willing to consult with him and perhaps even participate in the separation of his patients.I told him that I would be glad to consult with him if he could provide me with copies of his case records. That immediate response was prompted by more than just the usual professional courtesy. My experience with the Binder twins had not only been a major turning point, a defining moment in my professional career, it had been one of the greatest medical challenges I had ever known. At the time I had considered it a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.And now, seven years later, from a call out of the blue and half a world away, I receive word about a second set of craniopagus Siamese twins. Of course I was interested. But I was not at all sure just how involved I should be or could be in a case as demanding and complex as this on the other side of the world.Dr. Mokgokong informed me he would be making a trip to the United States within the month and could bring all the necessary records for me to review. I agreed to meet with him at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, and we set a tentative date for his visit.And so the South African neurosurgeon left Johannesburg in the heat of summer in the Southern Hemisphere to make his mid-winter journey to North America. Everything about him - from his deep resonant voice to his quick smile - conveyed such a friendly openness that I couldn''t help but like Sam Mokgokong from the start. Slightly balding, about forty, he stood two or three inches short of my six feet yet outweighed me by more than fifty pounds. I could not help thinking that given his build and personality, he would make a wonderful African Santa Claus - all he needed was a white beard.We struck up an almost immediate friendship. When we began discussing his case, I was soon as impressed with him professionally as I was personally, for he asked the right questions and seemed to have arrived at most of the right conclusions already.The South African twin sisters did indeed have many similarities with the Binder brothers. Nthabiseng and Mahlatse Makwaeba appeared smaller in the photos than the Binders had been, but they presented about the same degree of attachment at the back of their heads. Using the basic procedures we had followed with the Binder twins and drawing from the experience gained from that surgery, I believed there was a pretty fair chance both little girls could be saved.Encouraged by my optimism, Sam asked if I would be willing to come to Medunsa to lead the team that would perform the operation. I hadn''t been sure how I would react to this invitation when he had first called me. The operation on the Binder twins had taken months of careful planning, and our team had been composed of the best medical personnel Johns Hopkins had to offer, many of whom I had known, worked with, and operated alongside for years. Dr. Mokgokong assured me of the professional caliber of his colleagues, but I knew there was no way I could have the same level of trust operating among strangers with whom I had no personal history - inside or outsi