September 2006 | Volume 1 | Issue 16

In this issue:

• From the Desk of Dr. M...
• Something to Think About
• Feature Article
• Pass it On...
• Health Tips
• Cost Cutters
• Dr. M Recommends
• What's Happening

FROM THE DESK OF DR. M...

Yesterday was Labor Day in the USA and in Canada, a day to reflect on what we’ve accomplished as individuals and what we which to accomplish in our life’s work. No better day, I think, to wish you happy new year!

The start of the school year has marked a new beginning, not just for schoolchildren everywhere, but for those who have experienced twelve, sixteen or even more years of those beginnings and see, every year, the children coming from their summer vacations to begin again.

So, with Labor Day and the new school year, I think that happy new year is appropriate as we all have the opportunity for new beginnings.

In this issue of Commuter Chronicles, we look at renewal, repurposing and regeneration.

We start with the feature article that speaks about new beginnings and encourages you to start some. There is a case study that describes what one man accomplished when he changed his thinking.

In the health section, I suggest you reassess your overall health and take steps to make it good. You’ll save time and money by keeping on top of it all.

In Cost Cutters, I remind you of those bits of change that can grow to dollars and what fun it is to see them grow.

Something to Think About presents quotations about change and thinking. The power of thoughts can never be underestimated.

And so, at this time of new beginnings, I hope you can see yourself grow and change in a way that is satisfying to you. Happy New Year!

Be well!
Dr. M.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

New beginnings

Labor Day, the first days of school, the traditional end of summer – all times of endings and beginnings.

The quotes below speak of starting and starting over. I invite you to consider them and start something new, something that’s been in your mind for a while, something that will make you better and the world brighter.


"If not you, who? If not now, when?"
- The Talmud


"It is better to begin in the evening than not at all."
- English proverb


"Thoughts create a new heaven, a new firmament, a new source of energy, from which new arts flow."
- Philipus A Paracelsus

PASS IT ON...

Why we ask you to
“Pass it On”

As commuters travel farther and farther, their needs increase. Not only do they need efficient planes, trains, busses and ferries – something we can only lobby for – but their need for ways to limit stress and handle the problems inherent in being far from home increases.

There even has developed a name for these long distance commuters – “extreme commuters” – and contests have sprung up to determine whose commute is the longest.

Dave Givens, winner of the Midas Muffler longest commute contest, travels from his home in Mariposa, California to his work as an electrical engineer in San Jose, 186 miles one way.

In our push to get away from it all, says Keith Naighton of Newsweek, we have become a “nation of nomads.”

But getting away from it all doesn’t mean we’ve gotten away from the stress of commuting. In fact, studies show it increases as the distance from home increases.

Economists call it “the commuting paradox,” the decision to submit to the long commute for something better, better house, better school for the children, better community. But, on average, studies show that commuters are much less satisfied with their lives than are non-commuters.

Stephen Hagendorf of New York, has put in 30 years traveling to his job as a bond salesman on Wall Street and he says he regrets his decision.

These are the people Commuter-Assist strives to serve and you can help in our mission by passing on a copy of our newsletter to everyone you know who commutes. Don’t forget your company owners and HR people.

Together, we can make it easier to cope with the commute and change the statistics. So Pass It On and do a good deed.

FEATURE ARTICLE

New Beginnings

Each day, each minute, gives the opportunity for a new beginning. Don’t like how your life is going? Change it. Right now.

Change your thinking about yourself and your life and you will have begun to change your life. Many have found this little secret to change and have been able to craft satisfying lives.

The secret is in how they view themselves and what they bring to their consciousness. It can have an effect on every part of your life. You might want to try this on one area to discern how it works and then move to other area.

A good example of this is from a man I worked with some years ago who wanted very much to marry, but couldn’t even find a date.

Although he was very handsome, he was shy and came across as dull and undesirable. Everyone could read his thoughts about himself, ”Don’t bother with me, I’m not valuable.” And, of course, they believed him. After all, who should know better.

After some hard work, he began to change his view of himself. He began to see that he was handsome, bright and fun to be around because of his sense of humor.

Slowly that view he now held of himself began to surface when he was with people. They began to respond to him differently than before. They smiled at him and laughed with him. They spoke to him and included him in the conversations. They even called to invite him out to parties and sports events.

Because he viewed himself differently, people around him accepted that view and he began to have a good social life. He met many women, went out briefly with some and found the love of his life whom he married. He now has two young children.

We’ll call him “Jeff.” Jeff found the secret to having a life of his choosing. He changed his thinking and changed his life.

He used this formula in other ways, as well. Thinking of himself as not bright and uneducated, he worked on changing this thinking so that he was able to obtain a GED and get the college degree that, for so long, he had seen as out of his league.

I don’t want to think about the life Jeff had planned for himself before he changed his thinking. I just want to smile and know his life is good.

Of course, thinking alone won’t make it so. But it is the beginning and the base of change. So many unsuccessful individuals hold the thought of failure in their consciousness and, unknowingly, strive for failure.

No successful person sees him - or herself as a failure in their area of success. Perhaps there are areas where they are failing, and the perception of failure is there and needs changing. But in their area of success, they are conscious of success.

I invite you, at this time of new beginnings, to evaluate your thinking and see if it is holding you back from success. Check every area that is important to you – work, health, family and social life, your commute, finances, everything.

What is your thinking? Does it need changing in order for you to have success in that area? Is it stopping you or moving you forward?

If you can’t change your thinking fully to describe what you want to accomplish, just take one step toward that idea. When it feels real to you, take the next step and the next, until you have the thinking you wish.

This will also help you take the steps needed to accomplish that goal. Seeing yourself, for example, as attractively slender, will allow you to become comfortable with that image of yourself and how others will react to you. It will also help you make the right choices in food and exercise to move you toward that goal.

Do write and let me know of your successes. And if I can help, just let me know.






 

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