3 guys building a cathedral

There is a wonderful story Rachel Naomi Remen MD tells, about 3 guys in the middle ages, building a cathedral. They are stone-cutters. Someone asks each of them why they are doing this work. The first one says he is cutting blocks of stones, and he will be doing it til the day he dies, and he doesn't know if he will ever see the building they are for. The second one says he is providing a home and food for his beloved wife and children, and he thinks of them all day as he cuts the stones. The third one says he is building a shrine to God, to be a light for the world, which will stand for at least a thousand years.
5 years ago I broke my back in an almost fatal car accident. (T8 fx). I thought I would not be able to operate or deliver babies, or do meaningful work again. But my partners struggled to keep our practice going, and I did not want it to fail. And I love my work. So I said my prayers, and wore my brace, and managed to keep functioning. And we managed to keep the practice going. And my patients know that I have lived through difficult suffering like they have. So when I give advice, they are more likely to take it. I swim every day that I can, to keep myself from being twisted up and crippled. I have been able to do surgery, at a reduced pace, even the vaginal surgery I love. The whole story is to illustrate that not giving up is really an important part of the picture. What helps people to not give up? Everyone has a different answer. Metaphysically, I believe that, in medicine, we are all building that cathedral.