Learning How To Live Happily, Again
One of my patients is a successful businessman and he told me that before his cancer he became depressed unless things went a certain way. Happiness was "having the cookie." If he had the cookie, things were good. If he didn't have the cookie, life wasn't worth a damn. Unfortunately, the cookie kept changing. Some of the time it was money, sometimes power, sometimes sex. At other times, it was the new car, the biggest contract, the most prestigious address. A year and a half after his diagnosis of prostate cancer he sat shaking his head ruefully. "It's like I stopped learning how to live after I was a kid. When I give my son a cookie, he is happy. If I take the cookie away or it breaks, he is unhappy. But he is two and a half and I am forty-three. It's taken me this long to understand that ... Read Full Story >>
- Posted by Neha
- Jul 12, 2009
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We Can All Be Bamboo Shoots
One of my fondest memories as a child is going by the river and sitting idly on the bank. There I would enjoy the peace and quiet, watch the water rush downstream, and listen to the chirps of birds and the rustling of leaves in the trees. I would also watch the bamboo trees bend under pressure from the wind and watch them return gracefully to their upright or original position after the wind had died down. When I think about the bamboo tree's ability to bounce back or return to it's original position, the word resilience comes to mind. When used in reference to a person this word means the ability to readily recover from shock, depression or any other situation that stretches the limits of a person's emotions. Have you ever felt like you are about to snap? Have you ever felt like you are at your breaking point? Thankfully, ... Read Full Story >>
- Posted by Neha
- Jul 25, 2009
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A Desert that Learned to Smile
Many summers ago in a faraway Desert, a seedling came along to be and share herself with the scorched barren land. She was a young lavender colored flower in the Desert where all was dry and sullen. It was as if the Desert sat alone, depressed and dry. The flower's name was Violeta and she was blooming on her own. She enjoyed every day and would often ask the Sun, "When shall I be all grown up"? The Sun would smile by shining and say, "Be patient. Each time I touch you, you grow a little." Violeta was so pleased to have this opportunity to grow because she wanted so much to have a chance to bring beauty to this corner of the sand. That truly was all she wanted to do; bring a little splash of color to this side of the lonely world. Suddenly, one day, a Hunter came ... Read Full Story >>
- Posted by Neha
- Jun 20, 2009
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The Flight of a Little Girl
There came a frantic knock at the doctor's office door, A knock, more urgent than he had ever heard before, "Come in, Come in," the impatient doctor said, "Come in, Come in, before you wake the dead." In walked a frightened little girl, a child no more than nine, It was plain for all to see, she had troubles on her mind, "Oh doctor, I beg you, please come with me, My mother is surely dying, she's as sick as she can be." "I don't make house calls, bring your mother here," "But she's too sick, so you must come or she will die I fear," The doctor, touched by her devotion, decided he would go, She said he would be blessed, more than he could know. She led him to her house where her mother lay in bed, Her mother was so very sick she couldn't raise her head, But her eyes cried out for help and help her the doctor did, She would ... Read Full Story >>
- Posted by Neha
- Jul 3, 2009
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