Thanks to Bernie Siegel, M.D.
Today's Attitude of Gratitude post is a thank you to Bernie Siegel, MD. (Bernie, as he prefers)- author, surgeon, motivational speaker, and advocate for people dealing with life threatening illnesses. Bernie is the founder of ECaP - Exceptional Cancer Patients. If you are not familiar with Bernie's work, I suggest you check out his website. He is simply one of the most compassionate, wise, and humorous healers I know.
Bernie has inspired me from the moment I first read his book Love, Medicine, and Miracles in 1987. This book totally changed my life! I was in my second year of college and at the time was working toward medical school. From the time I was 6 years old I until I read Bernie's book I knew I wanted to be a physician. My focus had always been about the physical body - I actually wanted to become an orthopedic surgeon.
After reading this life changing book, I realized that what I really wanted was to help people enhance their emotional and spiritual health. It was as if for the first time I saw the incredible power of a healthy mind and spirit. My whole world turned upside down - in a good way. :) After all, I had been planning my path to med school and how to become a surgeon for as long as I could remember. Then, suddenly, I felt this deep calling to do something different. A calling to help people reach deep into their soul and find their best self and connect with their inner power and strength to create the life they wanted.
Unfortunately for me, at that time in the late 1980's there weren't any programs that offered a degree in what I wanted to do. So I decided to create my own path... and I was charged with passion and a clear purpose. I decided to start with studying psychology even though I knew that this wasn't quite going to give me all that I needed to learn in order to help people in the way that I wanted. So I achieved a bachelor's degree in psychology and then a master's degree, and finally a doctorate of psychology (Psy.D.)
All through my traditional academic training I voraciously devoured books on topics of interest like psychoneuroimmunology, mind-body medicine, stress management, spirituality, quantum physics, energy medicine, and others. I attended workshops and conferences on these topics. I knew that one day I would be able to combine all of the traditional psychology education with my knowledge and experience of these other subjects to create services and products to help people in a very powerful way.
Through the years, I have had the honor and pleasure of connecting with Bernie several times via postal mail, email, and in person. He has always been extremely gracious and kind, as well as, willing to offer helpful suggestions to me as I worked to carve out a path of my own and find my way to the career I now have.
So... thank you Bernie! Thank you for being such a wise and genuinely kind person. Thank you for your books, ideas, and for being a guiding light for me on my journey!
