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Principles for Living: What are you adding?

I was at the seniors centre recently for their weekly music offering (turning 50 has its perks!).
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I was at the seniors centre recently for their weekly music offering (turning 50 has its perks!).

As I looked around watching the folks enjoy the music, I had a thought.

I believe that the biggest reason people get together is to celebrate each other’s lives. That our biggest human need is to belong. And that ultimately, when we face our final moment, we won’t define ourselves by what we did for a living or by what we accumulated but by what we gave back and how we made others feel.

I always begin every New Year by asking myself if I made a difference over the last year. Central to that question is the understanding that I can’t keep doing the same things as last year, and expect a better result. By mid-January, I generally have a plan to make the New Year more than just a repetition of the last.

So now’s a good time to ask. How was last year for you? Are you moving yourself and the people you love in the right direction? Or is it time to change something? It could include your nutrition, fitness, work skills, emotional or spiritual health, freedom 65 plan or, perhaps most importantly, your role in the lives of the people around you.

How we act towards our fellow human beings is important. It can even affect our health. This isn’t just belief, its science. We know that nurturing experiences can increase the neurotransmitter serotonin which acts as an antidepressant.

At a deeper level, I believe what we do touches everyone. It creates community. We are all, in fact, individual cells in the body of mankind. Our interrelationships serve as the glue that binds us together. Who we are truly affects everyone.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a member of the seniors centre for kids over 50, your church, service club or if you’re a volunteer firefighter unendingly waiting for that signal to get out of a warm bed at 3 a.m. and risk your life yet again. What you add to life matters, who you are and what you contribute counts.

We truly get together to celebrate each other’s lives. Celebrate well.

Aloha and peace.

Dr. Carl Weber, B.P.E. (Hon), DC, is a chiropractor at Lake Cowichan Chiropractic, 85 Darnell Rd. Contact them at 250-749-3393 or check the out on the internet at www.lakecowichanchiropractic.com.