What do we give up for success in our careers? David Sedaris discussed this topic in his short story, “Laugh, Kookaburra” from his new book, Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls: Essays, Etc. In the story he meets someone with the philosophy comparing a stovetop with four burners to the success of a career. Each burner represents one of the following: health, family, friends and work. “The gist, she said, was that in order to be successful you have to cut off one of your burners. And in order to be really successful, you have to cut off two.” During my career I cut off friends, health and to some extent family. I achieved many things but lost far more. With multiple sclerosis I didn’t have the option to cut off health but I did and found myself on disability with few friends. Fortunately my family stuck with me. Here’s to hoping a lesson will be learned by my story.