Someone once told me, “never trust a person who doesn’t wear a watch because he or she has no respect for time.” I don’t wear a watch but I do know how precious the hours, minutes, and seconds we have on this planet are for the person running out of them.

I’ve battled a chronic illness for more than 20 years and found the greatest waste of my second most precious resource, time, has got to be doctors. By the way, my most valuable resource is health.

Back to doctors. I’ve been ten to fifteen minutes late for an appointment only to be told they can’t see me or I have to wait an hour or more to get in. Yet, my doctor keeps me waiting, often placing me in a room to go over symptoms with his nurse, only to sit there for another half hour until he graces me with his presence. Then, my doctor frequently makes me repeat what I’ve just told the nurse because he can’t bother to read the notes.

My favorite part of the office visit is how the doctor regularly tries to breeze through questioning about my issues so he can rush off to another patient anxiously waiting.

Like I said, my time is precious so I don’t allow myself to be brushed off. Rather, I go down my list of questions or concerns despite his or her visible displeasure. I persist with my pursuit of answers until I’m satisfied. I’m tenacious because I’m desperately trying to extend the time I have, improve the quality of it and more importantly, stop someone else’s carelessness from robbing me of it.

If you don’t understand why I’d be do relentless than you don’t know about the third most precious resource we all have: love. It is my self-love, love of the life I’ve been given, and respect for God’s plan for me that fuels me.

About the author: Nika C. Beamon is the author of the IndieReader approved and Publisher’s Weekly praised medical memoir, Misdiagnosed: The Search for Dr. House. In 2009, she released her nonfiction book about female independence, I Didn’t Work This Hard Just to Get Married. She’s also the author of two mystery novels.