How to address the many for which this letter is written? Clients, friends, associates and colleagues:

I find myself getting stifled by words these days. Words seem inadequate, insufficient to convey what I want to express to those who have been so much a part of my life during the year. Yet something calls me to put something on paper. It would be much easier if we were sitting together having a cup of something warm and spicy. I am never at a loss for words when I see your faces, hear your experiences and probe for what intrigues you as a person.

This season seems different to me somehow. Not the norm. I yearn for a time and space where we can come together and spend many hours in dialogue about the world we live in; the youngsters who are breaking out of their boundaries; the mid life seekers; those waking up to the REAL world; the elders who are simultaneously visioning and reflecting.

And yet, the hustle and bustle of preparing for the holidays saturates our thinking and dictates our actions. So, I decided in this moment to put myself in one of my processes and speak to you from the vantage point of:

With deep gratitude and peaceful heart,
DuAnne

What does it mean to be healthy?  We often define concepts in terms of what they are not.  For example, many people think of health as the absence of illness or absence of symptoms in their body, like describing a hole in a piece of wood by the wood that surrounds it. 

Health can be described as the condition of being physically and mentally sound, but that makes me wonder about the rest of me--my emotional and spiritual well-being.  Other people consider health to have a meaning that is more holistic, including the presence of mind-body connection.  For many, including a variety of healthcare practitioners, health is believed to be a form of vigor in body, mind and spirit.

In fact, the word health is often connected to the implications of being wholesome--considering the whole entity rather than its parts.

What is important is that each of us has a way of knowing how we determine our own degree of health.  If we wait for someone else to tell us, from their perspective, how healthy or unhealthy we are, we leave ourselves open to distortions about what may or may not be true.  How often have your trusted your intuitive knowing that something inside was out of wack?  And what about the times you pretended not to notice?

The world of health care is in the process of transforming itself.  Physicians understand that it takes the patient to participate in their own healing--for best and fastest positive results.  Here is an example from the President at the Institute of Medicine.

No One Walks Alone (NOWA) is the vision of Jim Olhausen. Jim, a cancer survivor himself, who believed that being diagnosed, was an assault on his and his family's life. This assault eventually transformed his perspective of life in that life was not about avoiding death but about living fully. Cancer became his opportunity and most precious gift, a transformation of his BE-ing.

Jim realized the value of serving others and making a personal connection to support them in their unique experience. Following his death on February 2, 2002, his vision continues through a team of those who shared in his dream.

NOWA, a Salt Lake City, Utah resource, provides a link to cancer survivors and their loved ones who are have experience navigating this unique life process. NOWA is a service that assists those who have a life threatening cancer challenge find ways to go forward.