This is my first post of the year and it feels good. I am excited about all the possibilities of a new year. It’s hard to believe we are already a decade into the new millennium. Are you where you hoped to be in life by now? Did you make any New Year’s resolutions to get there? It’s a great time to visualize your dream life and take just one step towards manifesting it.
I rang in the New Year at my local community center with my friends and neighbors. We danced to live music, drummed around the bonfire and burned a most unusual midnight art display. Several local artists made amazingly intricate gingerbread houses representing each month of the year. They were put on a huge pyre and burned with fireworks all around. Sugar and artificial colors burn spectacularly.
While watching this gingerbread representation of 2009 go up in flames, one of my friends shared with me how perfectly appropriate the moment felt. Her family’s resolution is to eliminate sugar from their diet entirely. They will still use honey, maple syrup and other natural sweeteners. This was really inspiring to me! What a challenge.
If that thought is alarming to you, don’t freak out. It is important to set yourself up for success. If you are the type of person that makes resolutions, make your goals reachable and set new ones as those are fulfilled. Every day is a great day to make healthy choices. I invite you to start the year off right and see how many healthy choices you can make each day.
Coming up in February, we’ll be celebrating the one-year anniversary of the NDHealthcare Blog. Last year I posted for the first time on Chinese New Year. As the year of the Ox wanes, the year of the Tiger approaches. More on that soon.
Next week, I’ll focus on more clinically interesting medical information like I share with my patients at my naturopathic clinic. In the next blog post, I’ll share some food safety issues that have recently come into my awareness. For now, I’ll leave you with well wishes and merriment that I hope lasts all year.
Yours in health,
Dr. Margaret Philhower
Naturopathic Physician
