Most likely as you read this, I am somewhere in Japan adhering to a rigorous tour schedule set up by my son to make sure I see everything he wants me to see (and to try the list of 35 foods he wants me to be sure to taste.) I may need to express a few personal desires while there. I am in Japan to attend his graduation from Temple University”s Tokyo campus with his degree in International Business. This should be fun on many levels (yea – no more tuition!) and am planning to be back in the office on Tuesday June 9th.
I have been rereading my last newsletter. A couple points are jumping out at me – “We have to dig much deeper to find where our happiness really comes from and choose to engage that” and “What really fills our hearts. What inspires us, motivates us, draws us forward?” I have been having this conversation with a number of you over the last week. What seems to be coming up is that health is not really a big motivator for most people. I have received some really good insights from you as to why this is. For one, there is no instant gratification associated with health like there is with cookies and ice cream. For another, health is a “maintenance forever” issue as opposed to a clear goal achieved in a specific time frame. Resolution of pain, injury, or a disease is a clear goal with a narrow time frame and a clear payoff, so it is highly motivating. Does this fill our hearts – not really. Does it make us happy? We are happy when the problem is gone, but the process of the pain and what we do to resolve it does not make us happy.
I like happy and filled hearts. I think this is why I want more than just pain relief as the center of my practice. I used to believe that happiness is the natural state of people and the only things preventing happiness were problems. Naturally I then believed that solving problems would create happiness in everyone. It appears this is not true. I still believe that health and problem resolution are important because it is very hard to be happy when you are sick and in pain. However I now believe that many other skills are involved in achieving balance, connection, and happiness. I wrote an article on this a few days ago and posted it on the office website. Check it it here: Balanced, Connected, and Happy
So now my question to myself becomes “How can I inspire, motivate, and help my patients engage what will bring more balance, connection, and happiness?” This newsletter is a start, but balanced, happy connection works much better in person. My imagination jumps up with the idea of a couple nights a month where we can get together for question, answer, and discussion sessions on life and health. I could do little presentations on various health and life topics. I could try out some of my new recipes on folks. We could even demonstrate on people some of the new health technologies I have acquired. I could even invite guest presenters on topics of interest.
Creating a supportive community and closer connection generates motivation and inspiration. We like to participate in common activities and beliefs as these create connection and connection feels good. Building a community of health minded people can provide the inspiration and motivation necessary to actually improve our health. This is an especially good time to start a healing community. Times are difficult right now, and difficulty helps draw people together. In times of plenty we tend to get very self involved. It is the lean times that remind us that we are all in this together and that we need each other to fulfill our purpose here. Please fill out this simple 2 question survey to let me know what you think of this idea: just click on Survey below –
I like to reality check my choices as much as possible so if this survey attempt works I will be using it frequently in the future to get feedback from you.
It will be lovely to see what this new seed will blossom into. A healing community could go in so many directions. We could end up doing anything from cooking demonstrations to personal growth workshops…from stretch classes to herb classes… from beauty workshops to 12 step for everyone groups. It is all just what does the community want to create and participate with. We have a room that will comfortably fit around 30 people so lets use it.
One cool little gift I would like to present you with is a Super Health Questionnaire. It combines all the symptom questions I would like to ask you if I had hours to spend with each of you. It groups them into an easy to understand format – check a question once if you experience it more than 2-3 times a month and twice if you have it almost every day. When finished just look to see any areas that have several questions marked and you know your problem areas. The questions are grouped by organ systems, metabolic systems, and stress systems. Some questions are repeated in several spots because the same symptom can come from several causes. I would really appreciate it if you would send it to me or drop it off when you have finished so I can add it to your file as part of your health history. It will also give us bonus stuff to work with the next time you are in for a visit. Just print yourself a copy here… The Super Health Questionnaire
I look forward to your input. If you have any ideas for the evening health meetings please email me at david@fairoakshealth.com.
