DNGILB: Trust me, I'm a doctor.

Sometimes I reflect. I think, “man, if I could have known then what I know now.” You know? I have this idea that, in my past, life seemed so stressful and uncertain. I was always wresting with “what should I do?!”  If I could go back, from the “right here and now” back to those older days, I could have said, “dude... relax! It’s going to work out. You don’t have to stress over all those things.” Yet, here I am today. Feeling lost. Feeing like I’m trying to figure it all out. “What do I want? Where do I want to go? What should I do? WHAT next?!” But isn’t that sort of how I felt in the past. You know, the past where I wished I could go back in time and tell my past self to relax? Why am I still doing it? Have I not learned? DUDE, RELAX! But how can you shape your life if you aren’t wrestling with all of those questions? Won’t you just end up in a dead end? But maybe ending up where the currents in the river of life takes you is not a bad thing? Maybe it’s the river

New Year, New Me. I’m not into New Year’s resolutions, but I have made a few changes in how I do things. And I must say, the greatest benefit thus far… Simply feeling the freedom and empowerment of self-decided change. Who do I want to be? How would I like to change?  A little before the new year, a colleague started eating more than 90% vegan. He pointed me to some of the medical literature that influenced him. And I must say, it was compelling. I just saw my dad go through a coronary bypass surgery and I watch my patient’s suffer the consequence of what seems like natural aging, but may be more to do with lifestyle choices across a lifetime. So, since I started getting into the literature for a vegan lifestyle, I have now completed 53 days in a row as a vegan.  And it feels great. It’s actually been fun! And my work weeks in the hospital are not as gloom filled. I have spent much less time face-to-face with my own mortality and future suffering. I feel like I final