BERNIE By Bernie Siegel, MD
Look at How Meaningful and Beautiful Life Is
W
e need to know that life is about more than impressing the neighbors and having more than the next guy. Who is your employer? Who are you working for? What are
you working for and what do you hope to achieve in your lifetime? How many parents, teachers and clergy really get you to look at those issues in a healthy, inspiring and meaningful way? As Joseph Campbell said, “You climb the ladder of success and when you get to the top it’s leaning against the wrong wall.”
The word for spirit and breath are the same in several lan-
guages. There is a message for us here. If we are to live we need to be inspired and fi nd a sense of meaning in our work and service to the world. Information and material things are not the path to hap- piness. 95% of the time lottery winners tell you winning the lottery ruined their lives.
Find what inspires you and fi lls not only your lungs with life
but your every activity. By doing so you become a co-creator and begin to realize that a perfect world would be meaningless and give you no choices or possibilities. Undertake the possible and even what seems to be the impossible. The inspired have nothing to fear. As Maude says in the movie Harold and Maude, “Reach out, take a chance, get hurt even. Play as well as you can. Go team go. Give me an L. Give me an I. Give me a V. Give me an E. Live. Otherwise you’ve got nothing to talk about in the locker room.”
Having role models can help you behave like the person you
want to become. What makes up three fourths of a lifeline? If you said FELINE you are right on target. And what is God spelled backwards? That’s easy, DOG. So now you know where I look for guidance. Animals are complete and can be excellent guides and models for us all. If none are available an infant can help tempo- rarily but once children grow up they start acting like adults and are not good role models any longer. They just don’t see where the true wisdom is because of how they are parented in the majority of cases. Our home was always fi lled with animals and they were wonderful teachers to us all about love, reverence for life and how to live in the moment and be a survivor.
Why are you living this life? Did you ever stop to think about
it? Or are you too busy complaining and whining to stop and ask questions? What action performed in your lifetime would make your life complete? And would allow you to die knowing you did what you came or were sent to do. I saw a cartoon which showed
42 Natural Nutmeg - October 2018
two animals standing over the grave of another animal and on the headstone it said, Return To Sender. On my father-in-law’s head- stone it says, He Just Fell Up.
So what do all the religions and philosophies try to tell us about our job. I’ll save you some time. It’s this. The only thing of permanence is love. If you want to be immortal display love. Your body will perish but your love will not. So make use of your body and demonstrate your love.
Who do you help? When do you help? How do you help?
What would your answer be to that one? The answer is simple. You help the person in front of you by doing what they need done, now. When you start living that way you get on the universe’s schedule and many things begin to happen that are to your benefi t too as side effects of your actions. Remember everything in the universe is subject to change and everything is on schedule.
If I asked you to tell me what you would hang in every school
lobby with this sign over it, “Look at How Meaningful and Beauti- ful Life Is.” What would your answer be? I once asked this of sev- eral thousand personal health trainers. All of them were beautiful men and women in excellent condition and yet their answers were rainbow, fl ower, baby picture. They felt like ugly ducklings despite their beauty. They had no one to refl ect their beauty back at them. Those enlightened by loss or illness or loving parents answer, “A Mirror.”
For many, Dr. Bernard Siegel-or Bernie, as he prefers to be called-needs no introduction. He has touched many lives all over the Planet. In 1978, he reached a national and then international audience when he began talking about patient empowerment and the choice to live fully and die in peace. Read Bernie’s
regular blog posts on his website where you will also fi nd his books, articles, and CDs:
http://www.berniesiegelmd.com. He is the Co-Academic Director of the Integrative Health and Healing M.A. Program at The Graduate Institute, Bethany, CT
Bernie currently holds a cancer support group the second and fourth Tuesday afternoons of the month 1:30-3:30PM at Coach- man’s Square at 21 Bradley Road, Woodbridge. If interested contact Lucille Ranciato:
lranciato2@yahoo.com 203 288 2839; or Bernie:
bugsyssiegel@sbcglobal.net. You can fi nd Bernie’s books ad CDs at Wisdom of the Ages in Simsbury, Ct. See ad on page 33.
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