Our long-time client and mentor, Dr. Henry Oh (no relation to us), was in our office for a meeting last week and shared some wisdom that we wanted to pass along. Before the meeting began, we caught up on life, and Dr. Oh shared about a friend of his who had passed away suddenly and unexpectedly the week before. The night before he died, his friend had called quite out of the blue to catch up, and Dr. Oh reflected on the mixed feelings he had about that last conversation. On the one hand, the honor of being the last person to speak with his friend but on the other, wishing he could have known it would be the last time so that he could say goodbye. At this point in the meeting, Dr. Oh scribbled the following on a notepad: 

Dr. Oh confided that in the days following his friend’s passing, he was comforted by the knowledge that we live in the dimension between the Already and Not Yet. From God’s perspective, Already: the course of our life, the number of our days, and the events that are yet to take place are Already determined by God. But from our perspective, Not Yet. In time and space, the things of the future have Not Yet come to pass. So we are continually moving from our Not Yet existence toward the Already of God.

Dr. Oh also wrote down “3 A’s”: Anticipate, Accept, and Adjust. In his present season of life where the loss of friends, health, and independence was becoming the norm, Dr. Oh concluded that he should live by these three principles:

A)     Anticipate – to anticipate the events that are coming

A)     Accept – accept the reality of each challenge that comes

A)     Adjust – adjust as best as you can to meet those challenges

This framework had given Dr. Oh peace and quieted his emotional turmoil. We are privileged to hear these nuggets of wisdom from our clients who have lived long and learned much along the way.

*The above named individual is not affiliated with JSO Partners or LPL Financial .