When I qualified as a Doctor at 25 years old, I thought I knew everything there was to know about health and medicine. By the age of 30, I realized my medical training was limited and I didn’t really know much about health and wellness. So I went on a journey of discovery to expand my horizons and studied acupuncture, Chinese medicine, Functional medicine, nutrition, yoga and Buddhism. By 50, I realized my life training was limited too as my daughter (a teenager at the time) was pointing out “how stupid” I was.  And now that I am 55, I realize I have amassed a lot of knowledge but have so much more to learn.

As I get older and hopefully wiser with every year, certain insights become clearer. Here are some of them gleaned from the wisdom I have gained from 30 years of marriage, having a 22 yr old daughter, 30 years of practicing medicine and being a perpetual student of life.

More Real Food,  Less ”Food-like Substances”

More Fruit and Vegetables,  Less Sugar, Wheat and Corn

More Organic,  Less Chemicals

More Clean Products,  Less Toxic Products

More Chewing, Less Eating

More Water, Less Soda

More Walking, Less Driving

More Exercising, Less Watching TV

More Recycling, Less Waste

More Outdoors, Less Indoors

More Sleep, Less Worry

More Slow, Less Hurry

More Smiles, Less Anger

More Love, Less Hatred

More Fun, Less Serious

More Letting Go, Less Holding On

More Being, Less Doing

More Generosity, Less Greed

More Forgiving, Less Blaming

More Ubuntu, Less Me!

Ubuntu means what makes us human is the humanity we show each other. It is a Xhosa (South African) word and philosophy emphasizing community, sharing and generosity.

As Archbishop Desmond Tutu says:

“Ubuntu is about the essence of being human, it is part of the gift that Africa will give the world. It embraces hospitality, caring about others, being able to go the extra mile for the sake of others. We believe that a person is a person through another person, that my humanity is caught up, bound up, inextricably, with yours. When I dehumanize you, I inexorably dehumanize myself. The solitary human being is a contradiction in terms and therefore you seek to work for the common good because your humanity comes into its own in belonging”.

Let 2010 be the year of UBUNTU

Tags: Philosophy