Monday, January 2, 2023

Dr. Jedidiah's Diary Episode #98: My Patients' New Year Resolutions

Dr. Jedidiah’s Diary

Dr. Jedidiah is a psychiatrist who loves traveling, meeting new people, and exploring different cultures. As a single father who lost his wife to drug overdose 10 years ago, he has not been his old perky self for the last decade. During those hard years, he has met hundreds of, thousands of people from various walks of life around all over the world. Meeting new people and listening to their stories outside his office have given him different feelings from the ones through the formal encounter groups or being truly honest with himself. Here is Dr. Jedidiah’s monologue that has left him with some food for thoughts in life….. or a fodder to justify his own mistakes in the past.

 

Episode # 98. My Patients’ New Year Resolutions

On the first week of January, I’d always made it a rule to share my new year’s resolutions with my patients in the group therapy sessions. Although I was not fortunate enough to stay connected with each and every patient who shared their new year plans after the period of consultations and therapy was over, I still find myself brimming over with a lot of emotions and feelings that I had back in those days with my patients who willingly shared what was on their mind.

Here’s some of their new year resolutions collected in my note.

 


“I will surely be more active and outdoorsy this year. I need more sunrays in my life.”

 

“I am not going to take things too seriously or personally, cause I have realized people are not quite interested in me as much as I guess they do.”

 

“I will give myself at least one full hour to meditate. I don’t mean that I am sitting on the yoga mat with a fancy diffuser near me. I’ll just keep myself shut off from hustle and bustle of life and noise in any comfortable place of mine…. like inside my car, at a park nearby, or in my bathtub.”

“I will live my life as a spearhead of helping hands for the homeless in my area. I will share my home-baked madeleines with them at least once a week.”

 

“I will try to stand my friend’s hauteur this year. Her stuck-up attitude annoys me, but I guess she needs somebody to wow. I’ll just try to take it this year, because… she’s a lonely one and I am her friend.”

 

“I will temporarily deactivate or eventually leave my social media activities. It is not because it feels like a waste of time, but because I am affected by random accusers or haters.”

 

“I want to travel more to make momentous memories in some places that I haven’t been to.”

 

“I hope to ditch my bad habit of retail therapy before I break the bank this year.”

 

“I will do right by my wife who always takes good care of me.”

 

“I will see my close buddies living apart from me more often this year.”

 

Expressions

    1.  hustle and bustle of: noisy, energetic, and often obtrusive activity

    2.  spearhead: leader in the forefront of something

    3.  hauteur: haughtiness of manner; disdainful pride

    4.  momentous: (of a decision, event, or change) of great importance or significance, especially in its bearing on the future

    5.  to ditch something: to get rid of something/ to give up something

    6.  retail therapy: shopping in order to make oneself feel happier

    7.  to do right by someone: to treat someone kindly

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