Your best life: mindfulness--the end of suffering.

Abstract

After another demanding day on call at the hospital or seeing patients in the office, it is easy for a physician to ignore his or her loved ones at home. As a practicing orthopaedic surgeon, I understand this predicament. Our fatigue consumes us. We see others as a burden – one more demand in a day full of seemingly insurmountable expectations. In order to properly care for our patients at the office and our loved ones at home, we must first take care of ourselves. Ignoring our own needs for the greater good of our patients is noble, but misguided. The consequences – burnout, failed relationships, and illness – are real [9], and have been well publicized [1]. Failure to manage our own emotions and relationships contributes to professional dissatisfaction, leaves us vulnerable to divorce and social isolation, and may even contribute to depression and substance abuse [1, 5, 6, 9]. We simply cannot give what we do not possess. Like a two-pack-a-day smoker in 2014, we are aware of the problems, but are perhaps unwilling to change our ways, chalking up unfulfilled personal lives to just being “the way it is.” But it does not have to be this way. Your Best Life will address and examine some of the psychological, biologic, social, and spiritual aspects of attaining wellness and integrating more self-care into one’s life. I will begin with a basic explanation of mindfulness, defined as the practice of living in the moment.