BY: Dr. Thomas Kaiser, MD, DRCOG of the Vale do Lobo Medical Centre
Email: [email protected]
Dear Reader,
I hope you have enjoyed my suggestions for a happy and healthy lifestyle during the last few weeks.
The last edition of The Kaiser Cure before Christmas seems to give the ideal opportunity to reflect about time and its influence on health.
You may remember my friend the psychiatrist, Francois Lelord, who has been researching happiness and love during his recent travels. His latest project is about time.
The apparent lack of time in modern society and having to organise the hours and minutes of our day is a big issue. We are continuously concerned about not losing time and some people even think they can “make time”.
There is no doubt that time pressures is the cause of negative stress and can be a great spoil sport.
I would like you to stand back in those days before Christmas and reflect about your life.
Do you feel time flies, is time running through your fingers or are you even running out of time? Do you remember how long a year felt as a child?
As time goes by we get older and it seems that in our society being young in itself seems to have an enormous value. While other societies value the experience and wisdom of their elders you do not need to bother sending your CV in for certain jobs if you have crossed a certain timeline in the Western economy.
The exception
The exception is politics – you have no chance ruling a multinational company age 70, but you can well become Prime Minister in any country age 75 and older.
As you may remember, I am a doctor who also practices anti-aging medicine. I have been misunderstood many times. I am of course not against aging. I would like my patients to age happily and healthily with a good quality of life.
So here are my suggestions:
• Enjoy your maturity, getting older
is sexy!
• It is the sparkle in the eyes and not a wrinkle-less forehead that makes you attractive.
• Maintain an independent mind. In traditional societies it was the eldest who had the wisdom and power and you will see that modern societies will soon rediscover the values of experience and maturity.
• Stay young at heart and mix as much as you can with younger people.
• Speak the elders of your society, there is a lot we can learn from them.
• Think about what you would like to have written on your gravestone and live every day as if it could be your last.
Another interesting exercise is to look at certain points in your biography. Think about, how your life would have turned if you had been a little bit luckier at this point in time. Where would you be now, had you not been so fortunate?
I will spare you more health tips so close to Christmas, but please remember that health is wholeness and balance. We are body, mind and spirit.
Look at your life every day as what it really is – a gift and a miracle.
I have recently started to meditate gratitude, which helps me a lot.
Wishing all of you a happy and peaceful Christmas.
Yours
Dr Thomas Kaiser
