After 23 years of formal education, there are certain moments, certain teachings that stand out. Sayings or truths that become not just more ingrained but more useful over time. When you first heard them, you had the inkling that something great had just been spoken, some revelation of knowledge that would continue on with you for years. Dr. Gordon Deckert, professor of psychiatry at the University Of Oklahoma College Of Medicine, was the source of more than his fair share of wisdom and he imparted it to us on a regular basis in medical school. "The fantasy is not the act"or"The map is not the road"still rings in my head today. But "the feeling is not the fact" has been engraved into my psyche the deepest. All three of these sayings carry a similar message that there exists, sometimes for the better, a chasm between what we feel and think and what is reality. Their application has been far reaching. A good thought not acted upon is worthless, a missed opportunity for good. And one can learn immensely more from a single patient with all their emotions and feelings than a thousand textbooks on psychology.
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