A Melting Pot

One hundred men, all brave at heart

United by an adventurous past

Biding their time in a corner of the world

A land insulated by desolation and ice

These men of valor, seen from time to time

Every generation has offered a guard of honor

A friendly chat will not reveal a past that’s dark

Kings of deception, they appear at night

A Mythical Land

A black canvas mounted in the dark

In a mythical land of the unseen

The paint brushes are the eyes

As colors come alive in the mind

Flowers hide the field that bears them

As brushstrokes of the wind guide their dancing smile

Sunlight skies are painted at night

With etchings of the stars, erased at dawn

On a perfect day, the elements are at play

A perfect night is an invisible sign

Seen only in the mythical land

A nameless realm that bears us all

Work in balance

Talk given at World Precision Instruments, Sarasota, FL on 9-25-2013

“ Without rest, a man cannot work; without work, the rest does not give you any benefit. ”

— Abkhasian Proverb

There are only a few things in life that are certain. You can count the 24 hour clock as one of them. Day after day, no matter who we are or what we are doing, we are bound by this 24 hour clock. If you leave out 8 hours for sleep, we are left with 16 hours to complete our daily tasks, which may include work, play, study, eat, read etc. Broadly speaking, our waking hours are consumed by either work or leisure. Everyday, we experience an undercurrent of thoughts that help or hurts our work-life balance. It is easier to achieve this balance if the body and mind are in tune with one another.

Deep sleep provides rest to the body and the mind. In this state, both the body and the mind are in a natural state of harmony despite one being unaware of it. When the mind is completely rested, the body rests and when the body is completely rested, the mind rests. Sometimes, sleep seems more refreshing than work. During sleep, rest is a passive process that starts with the body and envelops the mind. During work, rest is an active process that starts with the mind and this in turn affects the body. The waking state is a working state as far as the mind is concerned. When one leads a highly predictable and conditioned life, one can almost predict what the state of mind would be on any given day of the week. As an example, a “weekend mind” that feels strong and refreshed may turn into a “weakened mind” come Monday morning.

A Falling Leaf

Little white wave on a deep blue ocean

Like a green leaf in the Amazon

A twinkling star in a milky galaxy

Like an emerald in a chest of diamonds

A great king once a helpless baby

Whose rule will be a fable in time

Unlike a thief of hearts who has no beginning

This is a storyteller’s dream without an end

Changing mores of men to come

Hidden in minds like water in trees

The rise of sap is a miracle of sorts

Any other way would be a fall from grace

A letter written on water

A sculpted man chiseled from stone

Standing witness by the ocean shore

As rock turns to sand with a sculptor's blows

Letters in sand dissolve when water flows

A sculptor’s tool and the beak of a gull

One meets rock and the other water

Beauty arises from jagged stone as fish from sea

Transient are they as writing on water

The Windy Trident

Circling high above in the cosmic breeze

As toiling winds below move not but a blade of grass

Too important to even push a cloud

God of the wind lamented on his only son

Unlike brown mountains that appear blue from afar

A windy world morphed from the heavens above

The hills and dusty plains to turquiose waters

The wind god aided the ebb and flow of all life divine

The Five Elements of Heart Health

Talk given at Westminister Manor, Bradenton, FL on August 30, 2013

A patient of mine who had a heart bypass surgery about a year ago, came in last week for a follow up visit. Following her bypass she made an excellent recovery. When asked how she felt, she replied, “physically I feel great, but there is something that is different since my heart surgery”. When asked if she could describe in one word how she felt before her bypass and now a year since her bypass, she replied “ before the operation I felt invincible, now I feel vulnerable”. Although her physical body had healed fully, her psychological body was not healed.

Health and well being is a common goal for one and all. In all our thoughts and actions, we knowingly or unknowingly promote or destroy our health. When the body is healthy, we tend to forget about it and assume that it will stay that way forever. When the body is diseased, it makes a loud announcement in our minds, more severe the illness, the greater is the degree of worry in the mind. This is part of human nature that no one can avoid. Illnesses run the gamut from brief, self limiting colds to serious life threatening problems. It is virtually impossible to live a disease free life. However, by following certain simple principles of healthy living, it is certainly possible to avoid some serious illnesses.