A G.P. gets the best seat in the house of the world’s greatest stop-action film: It’s called Life. I’ve had the honor of serving as your family doctor for nearly 24 years. It’s been a privilege to see your children grow up and watch them have children of their own. It’s also been heartbreaking to sit in the presence of tremendous suffering – from illness, failed relationships, and deaths - of both people and beloved pets. I’ve listened to the heart of the fetus still in utero, then as a newborn, as a child, and in what seems like an instant an adolescent. It’s the same heart, but a vastly different person.
I have 7 wishes to you for 2025, credit owing to an author you may have heard me suggest – Johann Hari. He brings good news and the bad.
First the good: Depression isn’t always biological. It needs to be understood as a potential energy waiting for its rightful place. It often results from disconnections in our lives
Image credits: National Cancer Institute (not the actual photo)
Now the bad... It’s up to us to take ownership of rebuilding and strengthening the lost connections:
• Meaningful work,
• Other people,
• Meaningful values,
• Making peace with childhood trauma,
• Status and respect,
• The natural world (sky, trees, wind, etc,.)
• A hopeful and secure future.
• Meaningful work,
• Other people,
• Meaningful values,
• Making peace with childhood trauma,
• Status and respect,
• The natural world (sky, trees, wind, etc,.)
• A hopeful and secure future.
It’s only the connections that you’re NOT at peace with that can create sadness. The more items on the list you have, the happier you probably are
Image credits: Kiwihug (not the actual photo)
It’s a roadmap that empowers, prevents, and treats suffering. It is 2025.
Another year gone by, another reminder of life’s brevity, of the necessity to live consciously, bravely, and thoughtfully. I wish you health, happiness, and peace
Image credits: CARP