“I heard this story about a fish, he swims up to an older fish and says:“I’m trying to find this thing they call the ocean.”“The ocean?” the older fish says, “that’s what you’re in right now.”“This”, says the young fish, “this is water. What I want is the ocean!” “Soul” from Pixar Movie This is something that I come back to over and over again. We are all in this thing together. This thing called life. One big ocean. If…
“The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it.” In my line of work, which is palliative medicine, we are often the last one to come in contact with the patient. It should not be that way. There is a reason that the patients confuse our service with hospice. It is because we are asked right when what they really need is hospice type care. There is so much confusion regarding what our type of…
“It will happen to all of us that one day you’ll be tapped on the shoulder and told — not just that the party’s over– but slightly worse: the party’s going on, and you have to leave. That’s the reflection, I think, that most upsets people about their demise.” -Christopher Hitchens I don’t know about you, but I like nothing more than listening to this man speak. It doesn’t matter if you believe in his ideology or not (he was…
“Fear is the cheapest room in the house. I would like to see you living in better conditions.” -Hafez Happy Shab e Yalda! If you do not have a Persian heritage like I do, you would love to learn about this tradition. It falls on the Northern hemisphere’s winter solstice. It falls somewhere between December 20/21. You have to check with the stars to figure the actual date. Zoroastrian, the oldest monotheist religion known to man, used to believe that…
“Sisters: For me, there is no higher love.” I don’t know what your relationship with your siblings is like. I can tell you that I hope sooner rather than later you can come to terms with the relationship you have with your brother or sisters. There may be a chance that you are an only child. There may be a chance that you don’t even have a sister. I wish someone like that in your life (maybe a friend like…
“We cannot change the direction of the wind,But we can always adjust our sails.” I have often told you that one of the most beautiful parts of my job is to experience love and generosity. This is the love that is shared by the patient with their family. As well as the love of the family shared with the patient. Not talking about in situations where love exists already. I am talking about estranged children moving back to the islands…
“When you make the present moment, instead of past and future, the focal point of your life, your ability to enjoy what you do and with it the quality of your life increases dramatically.” Eckhart Tolle Christmas is here. This year, it seems like it came a bit earlier. It is always strange to celebrate Christmas in tropical climates. The first 13 years of my life in the United States were spent in cold climates. Spokane, Washington. Philadelphia. East Lansing…