Happy New Year!
December 31, 2009 by dr. lam
I wanted to interrupt my regularly scheduled blog to wish everyone a wonderful (and safe) new year celebration! I think as we mark the passing of 2009, we should look back at where we have come over this year and where we will plan to be going this coming year.
I have had probably my most profound awakening in 2009, and I owe a lot of it to writing these blogs. As I have repeatedly said, these blogs are a form of therapy for me, as much hopefully as they are good fodder for you as well. This past year, I have attained a much deeper sense of peace and tranquility despite whatever storm surrounds me, as you have seen reflected in these blogs that focus more on spirituality, peace, and happiness than achievement and attainment.
I have lost over 20 pounds through a radical change in diet (and more importantly attitude toward my diet) and also diligent, almost daily yoga practice. Yoga has given me greater peace, cleaner skin, more flexibility, better posture, a stronger heart, increased muscle tone (every muscle in my body), stronger neural stimulation through better balance, lower blood pressure, weight loss, daily meditation and also represents a metaphor for my life (that is a quiet peace about everything.)
Although my business actually increased despite the downturn, what I am most happy with is that my staff has continued to mature along with me in their sense of peace, happiness, and fulfillment. I have also seen a focus in my practice toward healing in which I am now actively looking for ways to heal my patients in a more holistic fashion.
In the spirit of this blog and all my blogs, I have no interest in recounting the lectures I have given, courses I have run, or other things that do not deserve the deep merit of what my life’s main mission is, i.e., to pass peace onto the world and healing energy through love, compassion, and growing self awareness.
I look forward to grow with all of you in the coming year 2010. As a leader (and you are leaders too!), I would like to recount what Ben Zander taught me (and his blog series is coming up soon on The Art of Possibility), “a leader is the relentless architect for the possibility of what others can acheive.” Well put. Let’s all grow and become greater in our peace, wisdom, and love in 2010. Wishing all a happy new year!
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7 Responses to “Happy New Year!”
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Dr. Lam, I really like your perspective of not focusing so much on the accomplishments one has made that year, but shifting the focus to one’s personal growth and peace.
Love that quote, Dr. Lam!!!
Happy New Year!!!!!
thanks heather. happy new year too!
As 2009 comes to a close and we begin a New Year and decade I know many people will be coming up with resolutions for the coming year. Hopefully, these resolutions are reminders to try to be better people or accomplish a goal we keep ignoring. One goal I hope we can achieve is world peace. Although, I know this goal sounds optimistic I do think that one day it could be possible. Taking this optimism one step further I believe the world could be even more peaceful if we got to a point where countries didn’t even need any type of military force. The world would be so peaceful that no country would ever need a military to defend itself since the world would be in harmony with each other. This goal sounds unrealistic but hopefully it is something we can strive for. But the change starts with individuals.
People fear many things. However, the hard part truly understanding why we fear certain things. Many times we fear things simply because we don’t understand the idea, subject, or person. For example, more people are worried about public speaking then actually dying. Clearly, this statistic doesn’t seem logical but it is in fact true. People usually fear the public speaking because they have not practiced it enough. I would be willing to bet if someone practiced a speech more than once their anxiety level would dramatically decrease, and for every additional time they practiced their speech their anxiety level would still continue to decline. My point here is that we often fear things because we really haven’t spent the time or energy to really investigate what is going on. This same principal could be applied to stereotypes or the way we judge other people, cultures, or traditions. It’s hard for someone to understand a culture that is different than their own. But should we dislike them because they are different? My answer would be no. As the cliché goes “don’t judge a book by its cover”. I believe everyone should be treated the same. We should follow the golden rule of treating others the same way we wish to be treated.
Something else to consider is when we have disagreements with friends, loved ones, or colleagues. A lot of times we get into arguments and try to convey our point without listening to the other side. If we took the time to actually sit and listen to the other person we could save so much time and most likely not argue as much. Doing some quick math if we spent 1/5th more of the time listening we could eliminate ½ the time we spend disagreeing.
Research has shown that simply smiling at other people (even random people) can make someone else’s day better. We should all strive to do something nice for someone else. Doing something nice for someone else doesn’t have to involve money or even volunteering. Simple things like holding a door open for other people may seem trivial but can go a long way in improving someone else’s day. I truly believe karma does exist and everything happens for a reason. Hopefully we can all try to be a little more peaceful in the New Year and strive to make a change not only in our life but someone else’s.
Happy New Year over there! The flickr photos are so beautiful, wow!!! Inspiring, now it’s our turn in this longitude.
Thanks!
thanks peter. couldn’t have said it better myself. happy new year to you, nord, heather, my more silent blog buddies, and to all the world!
Welcome, Peter!!! Some insightful thoughts to keep in mind for the new year! Thanks for sharing!
Yes, happy new year and decade to everyone here!!!!
Welcome, Peter!