Category Archives: Gratitude & Inspiration

Gratitude 2026

Posted on by

This week I am thinking about gratitude. That’s not hard for me. I was born an optimist; I always see the glass half-full. I always make lemonade from lemons — what else would you do with them? While it is certainly true that I have had my share of bad days, I’ll be the first to tell you that they have made me a better person. And they made me a better doctor, too. See what I mean? Glass half full. It’s a given. 

I had a personal laugh once when a friend send me a “positivity challenge.” As far as I’m concerned, it’s never been positivity that was the challenge. Nevertheless, there is so much for which I am grateful. Here is my very abbreviated list:

I am grateful for four little beings whose very existence feeds my soul in ways I find difficult to describe. I could not have predicted this. It amazes me that you have to live most of your life, or at least a good portion of it, before you are privileged to meet some of the most important people in your life. I am speaking, of course, about grandchildren. 

I am grateful for my family and our regular get-togethers. 

I am grateful for my friends, especially some of my oldest friends, whom I have known for many decades now. 

I had breakfast at a new place with a friend who has a gift for words, and she asked me all kinds of questions about a writing project I’ve been working on. Her questions are the very best. They help me to clarify, understand, and see things in my project that were invisible to me, and I certainly did not know to ask about them. 

I am deeply grateful to a family whose commitment to nutritious food and lovingkindness once allowed my child the rare pleasure of enjoying a bowl of sweet potato ice cream made with coconut and sunflower seed milks! 

I began a daily yoga and meditation practice in January 2016. This month I am proud to say that I have been practicing for ten years. I would never, ever have imagined the direction those first few days would take me. Days became weeks, weeks became months, months became years. And then a decade. 3650+ days. It would all have been much too much to try had I known where it would lead. But one day at a time it has taken me here nevertheless. I continue to practice. There is so much to learn. 

In 2026, I am looking forward to a number of speaking opportunities on health, wellness, mindfulness, nutritious food. I continue to believe that mindfulness is the most important pillar of wellness. 

I am most grateful for the fact that, for the first time in a great many years, I am not sleep deprived. I am done with multi-tasking, and so grateful for the realization.

Discipline is Remembering What You Want

Posted on by

Years ago, in the weeks prior to starting medical school, my brother-in-law gave me a small card with a message in calligraphy: “Discipline is remembering what you want.” I affixed it to the wall of my new study carrel where it remained for a long time until, years later, I passed it along to a friend who needed it more than I. Continue reading →

Fall at its Finest

Posted on by

This is the time of year when the pomegranates ripen and come to market. While I was growing up, my mom always put pomegranates on the grocery list at this time of year, and we children eagerly volunteered to unpack them when she arrived home. That night, after the dinner dishes were cleared, we would each take a seat at the circular kitchen table. My mom made a ceremony of opening a single perfect pomegranate to reveal its layers of shiny, shimmering red rubies. She separated the pomegranate into sections, saved one for herself, and then distributed the rest among the children. Together, we shared the pomegranate, appreciating the fruits of our table, eating up all the seeds, and counting our blessings. Continue reading →

Salmon Teriyaki by the Lake

Posted on by

The first week of May, we spent a long luxurious weekend with old friends who live at the confluence of two quiet lakes north of Detroit. Twenty-four hours a day, we found ourselves looking out large windows at the mesmerizing ripples on the surface of the water, lakes filled with Mallard ducks, geese, swans, a pair of loons, and even the first egret of the season. We saw four waddling yellow puffballs following closely after their Mallard parents. No matter the time of day, no matter the weather, the view out those windows was stunning. Continue reading →

Your Health is in Your Heart

Posted on by

Good morning, and happy Sunday. Today I am sharing a conversation I had with a patient once some years ago. She was someone I had never met before, and was, like many before her, completely flummoxed about what to try next. With a personal goal of weight loss, she had already done everything she could think of, and then some. I know you know this story. I myself have told it many times before. There is a good chance you may even have experienced it yourself. Maybe you have experimented with practically every diet, including the dreaded cabbage soup diet, denied yourself your favorite foods, carved out time you didn’t really have to get more exercise than was comfortable at the time. Of course none of this is sustainable. You can’t eat cabbage soup for breakfast forever. So what comes next?  Continue reading →

Old-Fashioned Gratitude

Posted on by

Many years ago, when I was eleven years old, my parents bought a Corning Cooktop stove, a fancy new appliance whose coils remained white even when they were hot. You simply had to take it on faith — or not. No matter how long I stared at that new stovetop, I could not convince myself that the white coils were hot. And that is why I still remember so clearly, this many years later, the perfectly oval burn on the tip of my right index finger. I touched it only once, but that was enough. It was all it took. I couldn’t take anyone else’s word for it.  Continue reading →

The Art & Science of Magical Fruit

Posted on by

On the occasion of my ninth birthday, half a lifetime ago, my beloved Uncle Lenny gave me a book called The Human Body, which still has a place on the shelves that hold my important books. I called it “The Body Book,” and carried it everywhere I went until I had memorized everything in it, cover to cover. I was fascinated not only by the descriptions and illustrations, but also by the idea that each part of the body was uniquely designed to do exactly what was required of it. Form followed function, and I couldn’t get enough. That, parenthetically, was also the year I decided I was, someday, going to become a doctor. Continue reading →

Nourishing Yourself With Joy

Posted on by

Joy has been in the news lately, and that’s what I want to talk about today. 

Eating is meant to be a source of joy, as satisfying as the sunrise. Like listening to music. Talking with friends, or sitting together on a bench at the park. The wind at your back. Trading backrubs. Dancing. Stretching. A hot shower. A book that transports you to the other side of the universe. Walking along the shore. 

Eating is deeply satisfying. It speaks to your soul. Eating is sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, umami. Crunchy, soft, toothy, smooth, sticky. Beautiful, colorful, warm, cool, icy, bubbly. Expressive, imaginative. Fun, chaotic, quiet, or peaceful. Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Two Brand New Salads

Posted on by

A couple of weeks ago we were making plans to a host dinner for a large group, and I got inspired to come up with a couple of new salads to add to our regular lineup. I sat down, started thinking, and before you knew it, I had come up with recipes for two brand new salads. And with a bonus — not only did they use up some of the contents of our pantry, they added only a few items to the shopping list!  Continue reading →