Someone said, ‘There is something I have forgotten.’ There is one thing in the world that should not be forgotten. You may forget everything except that one thing, without there being any cause for concern. If you remember everything else but forget that one thing, you will have accomplished nothing. It would be as if a king sent you to a village on a specific mission. If you went and performed a hundred other tasks, but neglected to accomplish the task for which you were sent, it would be as though you had done nothing. The human being…has come into the world for a specific purpose and aim. If one does not fulfill that purpose, one has done nothing.

Mevlâna Jalâluddin Rumi

These words of Rumi, the great 13th century mystic poet of Islam, can be interpreted as a message about one’s mission in life. Many pharmacists feel that our work is not simply a job but a calling. The meaning that we derive from life, to a substantial degree, comes from our work. We have integrated our work with other dimensions of our lives. Although we enjoy the material rewards of our labor, a deeper gratification comes from the sense of contributing to an important cause. We feel a sense of responsibility for the future of our profession, which is linked to a strong belief that significant changes are needed to secure that future. All of this and more are entwined in our sense of calling. Echoing Rumi, we believe that pharmacy gives us “a specific purpose and aim” and deep in our hearts, we may fear that falling short of fulfilling that purpose is akin to achieving “nothing.”

So it is wise to examine from time to time whether we remember our specific mission. Being still and listening to that quiet inner voice will tell us if we have become distracted by “a hundred other tasks” and are neglecting to accomplish the one task for which we have been sent. It is impossible, however, to achieve a complex mission without mastery of the fundamentals demanded by the challenge. We will discuss these fundamentals as we see them, with the intent of fostering reflection and, perhaps, recommitment and even redirection.