Essay
Ever wonder how different your life could be if you looked at everything in a new way? How big
an impact you could have on the world, on yourself, and on others? By giving everything a new
view, you can give everyone a second chance and try to understand why somebody reacts a
certain way. Patch Adams started out as a suicidal man that admitted himself into a psychiatric
institute to realizing that by helping some of the patients in there, he finally knew what he
wanted to do with his life. He decided to attend medical school to become a doctor. By going
through this journey, he demonstrates the power and importance of always trying to look at
the world, at ourselves, and at each other, in new ways.
Since Patch has a unique outlook on life, he is “excessively happy” and tries to see the best in
everyone. This allows him the ability to give people a second chance and try to see their point
of view in a certain situation or action. What if people gave each other more second chances?
What if they tried to empathize more? Our world would be changed forever if we had more
people like Patch Adams.
For instance, Patch Adams makes a big difference, all on his own, in the world of medicine.
Making the statement, “You treat a disease, you win, you lose. You treat a person, I guarantee
you, you’ll win no matter what the outcome,” Patch is goes against everything that the medical
profession usually stands for. He believes in transference with his patients. He believes in
seeing the patients as more than just a disease. He believes in seeing them as equals. By doing
this he creates more of a friend and friend relationship versus a boss and employee type
relationship. In the time that Patch starts talking and communicating with the patients at the
hospital, he makes a huge impact on their lives. The patient in Room 305 actually laughs and
learns to accept his fate; the children in the cancer ward get a chance to laugh and smile.
Ultimately these positive effects not only help emotionally, but physically as well. After all of
this the children’s medications were decreased, they felt better, and they got to wake up with a
smile on their face and not have to worry about the cancer for a bit.
In the same way that we can help the world, we can help ourselves. If you keep a positive
outlook on your own life, you will probably have a better quality of life than someone who
doesn’t. If you try to see the positives in your life instead of focusing on the negatives, you can
wake up with a smile on your face and have the best day possible. Have you ever been driving
in your car, looked out the windows and noticed that on one side of the car there was blue sky
and the sun shining brightly, and on the other side there were dark, gloomy storm clouds? This
is like our life. If you focus on the sunshine and good parts instead of the bad gloomy storm
clouds in your life it changes your whole outlook. Patch demonstrates this in the movie after
Corinne is tragically taken. Once he gets past his grief he can see that there is still good in the
world and in his life even though this storm cloud has hidden the fact.
Not only does a positive outlook change your life it can change others’ lives around you as well.
If you try to show them the positives in a certain situation or try and walk in their shoes for a
while you can change their outlook in life or try to understand their point of view. Have you
known someone that has done something in their life that you just didn’t understand? Why did
they do it? Or why they gave someone a second chance when you thought the other person
didn’t deserve it? I know that I have. But what I did is I tried to step into their shoes and
understand. And you know what? That changed my entire outlook on the situation. I finally was
seeing why they did it and seeing the positives it brought to the situation instead of the
negatives. Patch also demonstrates this point of view of affecting others’ outlook on something.
In the film, he changed his roommate, Mitch’s, opinion on being a doctor. Patch states, “The
purpose of a doctor or any human in general should not be to simply delay the death of the
patient, but to increase the person’s quality of life.” By listening and watching Patch’s
teachings, Mitch sees that this is true. He sees that the patients are more than just diseases or
sicknesses to be treated. We get to watch this remarkable change in Mitch when he approaches
Patch and asks for Patch’s help with the patient that he has been visiting but cannot get to eat
no matter how hard he tries. He recognizes that she is a person just as he is. He recognizes her
as an equal for the first time. This is just one example of how Patch’s outlook can change and
affect others life in a positive way.
To sum up, I hope you can now see the impact our outlook alone can have on the world and in
the lives of not only ourselves but others as well. Before you go back to your everyday life I just
want you to ask yourself a couple of questions. Do you try and see the positives or do you look
at the negatives? Do you try and make an impact on the world and on others as well? And do
you want to try and make a change if you’re not already? I hope this can help you try to
understand and empathize with the others around you and help you try and make the best of
each and every single day. I mean every day is a new day, where you can make a new start, and
a new choice that can change your entire life. Simply try and demonstrate looking at the world,
others, and yourself in new ways. In other words try being a Patch Adams and being
“excessively happy”. You will now see the importance and power of this.