Classical Quotes for Critical Care

Suriyakanthi Amarasekara had recently been invited as the Chief Guest to make a presentation to the Clinical Society of Sri Jayawardenepura Hospital. What follows is a gist of her talk. 

When I received the gracious invitation to be the chief guest at the Scientific Sessions of the Clinical Society, I had to choose a topic of my address. After much thought I decided that rather than talk to you on a ponderous scientific theme, I would share with you some of my collection of quotes concerning life and critical care. I may add that from my early teens I got into the habit of jotting down anything that touched my heart so what is presented to you in the next few minutes is picked from a collection that has taken me almost a half century to compile.

All of us present here are engaged in working. So I would like to start with a quote by Khaleel Gibran from his masterpiece “The Prophet”

“A plough man said speak to us of work.

And he answered saying

You work that you may keep pace with the earth and the soul of the earth

For to be idle is to become a stranger unto the seasons,

And to step out of life’s procession that marches in majesty and proud submission towards the infinite

When you work you are a flute through whose heart the whispering of the hours turn to music.

Which of you would be a reed dumb and silent, when all else sings together in unison ?

You have been told that life is darkness.

And in your weariness you echo what was said by the lonely.

And I say that life is indeed darkness save when there is an urge,

And all urge is blind save when there is knowledge,

And all knowledge is vain save when there is work,

And all work is empty save when there is love.

And when you work with love, you bind yourself to yourself,

And to one another and to God

I firmly believe that no one working in critical care of for that matter caring for the sick in any location can be truly successful and happy unless he has a special care and concern for the welfare of his patients. We need to treat or patients with compassion and we need to work with love.

I think that St Paul’s epistle to the Corinthians captures the type of love we should have when he wrote:

“though I speak with the tongues of men and angels, and have not love, I am becoming as a resounding gong, or a clanging cymbal.

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have no love I am nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind.

Love does not envy and does not boast

Love is not proud, it is not rude it is not self seeking

Love is not easily angered, it keeps no records wrong

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth

Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes and always preserves

Love never fails”

I remember being told many years ago, to replace the word love with “I” .

So to paraphrase

I am patient,  I am kind.

I do not envy and do not boast

I am not proud, I am not rude I am not self seeking

I am not easily angered, I keep no records wrong

I do not delight in evil but rejoice with the truth

This shows us how far short we fall from the expected ideal

Every patient is important, and every encounter with that patient and his family is important. Things that we may sometimes consider trivial, and therefore overlook, may have tremendous significance, especially in view of the complexity of multiple medical problems that we are faced with.

As John Donne said,

“No man is an island entire of itself,

Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main…..

Any man’s death diminishes me because I am involved with mankind

and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls,

it tolls for thee”.

Very few people work harder than ICU personnel, but not infrequently, it does not really seem to change things. All our skill, wisdom and efforts may seem to be of no avail, not only with patient care, but also academically.

“I returned and saw under the sun

That the race is not to the swift

Nor the battle to the strong

Neither yet bread to the wise

Nor yet riches to men of understanding

Nor yet favour to men of skill

But time and chance happens to them all”

Ecclesiastics 9 : 11 – 12

Sometimes we feel so let down and disappointed by the circumstances we are faced with, that we wish we could transform the situation and remake the world

“Ah love could you and I with fate conspire

To grasp this story scheme of things entire

Would we not shatter it to bits and then

Remold it nearer the Hearts Desire”.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam Stanza 99

Often our efforts seem futile and there seems to be nothing we can do about what is happening around us

“the moving finger writes and having writ

Moves on: not all your piety or wit

Shall lure it back to cancel half a line

Nor all your tears wash out a word of it”

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam Stanza 71

But we should not be discouraged. In life, in medicine there are few “quick fix” situations. But eventually the impact of our efforts begin to show.

‘The smallest effort is not lost

Each wavelet on the ocean tossed

Aids in the ebb tide or the flow

Each raindrop makes some flower glow

Each struggle lessens human woe’      Charles Mac Kay

For an ICU or that matter any Unit or Ward to function optimally, everyone on the team has to do his job well no matter how menial or small the task is.

“We can’t all be captains, we’ve got to be crew

There’s something for all of us here

There’s big work to do, and there’s lesser to do,

And the task you must do is near

If you can’t be a pine on the top of a hill

Be a scrub in the valley – but be

Be the neat little scrub by the side of the rill

Be a bush if you can’ t be a tree

If you can’t be a highway then just be a trail

If you can’t be the sun be a star

It isn’t by the size that you win or fail

Be the best of whatever you are!”

Douglas Malloch

We must also recognize that we can never stop trying to learn. Acquiring medical knowledge is like rowing up stream against a strong current. You have to work very hard to make any headway at all, but if you slacken your efforts you are rapidly swept down stream. I recall that I never felt confident about my medical knowledge as I did when I was a 3^rd year Medical Student

“A little learning is a dangerous thing

Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring

There shallow draughts intoxicated the brain

And drinking largely sobers us again”

And

Be not the first by whom the new are tried

Nor yet the last to lay old aside

An essay on Criticism Alexander Pope

A sense of humour is something that we need to cultivate if we are to keep our sanity in this stressful world of ours.

If you see the funny side, you’ll stroll along the sunny side

While other folks are walking in the shade

Things will never harass you, embitter or embarrass you

A sense of humour is the finest aid

To wisdom and philosophy, in trouble and adversity

It brings you smiling through the stress and strife

So cultivate the power to see, the little touch of comedy

Behind the trials and tragedies of life

We often do not appreciate the role played by the nurses in the care of critically ill patients. The 3^rd stanza of William Wordsworth’s poem “She was a phantom of delight” captures the description of a perfect ICU nurse

“Endurance, foresight, strength and skill

A perfect woman, nobly planned

To warm to comfort and command

And yet a spirit still and bright

With something of angelic light”

And again

Oh woman in our hour of ease,

Uncertain, coy and hard to please

Uncertain as the shade

By the quivering aspen made

But when pain and anguish wring the brow,

A ministering angel thou”

I recall an incident when I was about 14 years old, I was running a very high temperature and having a blistering headache. My mother gently placed a cloth soaked in iced Eu de cologne on my forehead. It felt so soothing that I caught her hand and quote the above poem to her. My mother’s response was to pop a thermometer in my mouth – she thought I was delirious!

Eventually no matter how hard we work we need to go to a very special place we call home. At home at the end of the day we may finally be able to relax with some peace and quiet

Longfellow captures a sense of that relaxation that might come at the end of the day in his poem The day is done

“The day is done and the darkness

Falls from the wings of night

As a feather is wafted downward

From an eagle in his flight

And the night shall be filled with music

And the cares that infest the day

Shall fold their tents like Arabs

And as silently steal away”

As we are just  a little over 2 weeks away from the dawn of the New Year, some of you may be thinking of making new year resolutions. So I thought I would share with you a poem I wrote for the SLMA Newsletter in January 2006:

FOR THIS NEW YEAR

This I would like to be, braver and bolder, just a bit wiser, because I am older

Just a bit kinder to those I may meet, just a bit braver taking defeat

This for the New Year, my wish and my plea,

May this New Year make a good doctor of me

This I would like to be, just a bit finer, more of a smiler and less of a whiner

Just a bit quicker to stretch out my hand, helping another, who’s struggling to stand

This is my wish for the New Year to be

May this New Year make a good doctor of me

This I would like to be, just a bit truer, less of a wisher and more of the doer

Caring, compassionate, more willing to give, living and helping me patients to live

This for the New Year, my wish and my plea,

May this New Year make a good doctor of me

Finally I would like to end with the words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow from A Psalm of Life

“Lives of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime

And departing leave behind us

Footprints on the sands of time

Footprint that perhaps another

Sailing o’er life’s solemn main

A forlorn and a shipwrecked brother

Seeing, shall take heart again

Let us then be up and doing

With a heart for any fate

Still achieving, still pursuing

Learn to labour and to wait”

Ladies and Gentleman I thank you for your attention.

Prize-giving Speech July 2017, St. Benedict's College Colombo

A few days ago, I announced that Cyril Ernest was to be the Chief Guest at the Annual Prize Giving at his old school St. Benedict's College, Kotahena. I am now pleased to post his Prize Day Speech as a new post.

Prize-giving Speech July 2017, St. Benedict's College Colombo

Never, never, never give up! - so urged Sir Winston Churchill to his fellow Englishmen to fight the Germans during WWII.

Relating my own experience with this saying:

My fascination with martial arts began in 1968 and I never gave up my quest to gain my black belt, which I finally attained in 2008 at age 68. I achieved my black belt in Tae Kwon Do after three grueling years of hard training, with numerous hours of sparring, weapons training, speedwork, fitness training, breaking boards, and sharpening kicking and punching skills. I have been actively involved in Tae Kwon Do until a couple of months ago sans sparring. I am 76 today.

I love dancing! And, I have taken lessons in ballroom dancing. I find that my coordination and grace are much to be desired. I do have two left feet - to the embarrassment of my wife. So, do I give up dancing? No Way! No, never, never, never!

I love to sing, especially Karaoke. My singing might be nauseating to the listening audience, but do I quit? No, never, never, never! I sing regardless and enjoy myself.

Rev. Bro. Director, Distinguished guests, the Student body of St. Benedict’s College, the teaching staff, Ladies and Gentlemen:

 It is indeed a very profoundly humbling experience for me to have been invited to be the chief guest at the Prize-giving of 2017. It is a great day for all of you students, who are being honored today in recognition of your efforts over the past year, 2016, academically and in sports. I am told that the recognition for the sports achievements will be at the Colors Night event. 56 years ago, in 1961 I was at the prize-giving, awaiting to get my awards - how time goes by.

Before I go any further I would like to relate to you a short story – about a little boy named Johnny. Little Johnny was a very incorrigible and pesky fellow who caused enough headaches for his parents and everybody else that he came into contact with. He was doing very poorly in math. His parents tried everything - tutors, flash cards, special learning centers etc.-in fact everything they could think of. Finally in a last ditch effort they took Johnny down and enrolled him in a Catholic school.

After the first day, Little Johnny came home with a very serious look on his face, going directly to his room, and immersed himself in his studies. His mother was amazed. To his mother's surprise, after dinner, Johnny again went straight back to his room.  This went on for some time.  Finally Little Johnny brought home his report card. He quietly laid it on the table and went up to his room and hit the books again. With great trepidation his mother looked at his report card. To her surprise Little Johnny had got an A+ in math. She could no longer hold her curiosity. She went to his room and said “Son what was it? Was it the nuns? Little Johnny looked at her shook his head no. Well then she asked was it the books? Are they better? Was it the discipline? The structure, the uniforms – what was it? Little Johnny looked at her and said,” Well on the first day when I saw that guy nailed to the plus sign, I knew they weren’t fooling around. They meant business.

It is the same with the Christian Brothers – your teachers at St. Benedict’s College. Learn you will under their influence and tutelage or depart. They have dedicated their entire lives in imparting knowledge and discipline like no others. They mean business as Little Johnny remarked.

I came under the influence of the Christian brothers in 1958, when Rev. Bro. Alban accepted me as a student at St. Benedict’s. I was a boarder and this gave me enough time to participate in sports and studies. I did excel in both. I represented College in Cricket, Hockey, Track and Field and Tennis. I also represented the school in Spelling Bee and Do You Know in interschool competition. I entered the University in 1961 at my first attempt and subsequently Medical School in 1962.In those days St. Benedict’s College were the National Champs in Hockey, Basketball, Soccer and not too far behind in Cricket. I am really elated to see the success of the College Track and Field teams in recent times at a National level.

At a momentous occasion like today, I am expected to instill in your minds inspirational ideas and tid-bits that will help you forge ahead in life. I have taken some words of wisdom imparted by 5-Star General Colin Powell former secretary of State and Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Services:

"Always do your best; someone is watching you.

Always do your best, no matter how difficult the job or how much you dislike it or your bosses, your work environment or your fellow workers. If you take the pay –earn it. Do your very best!

Kindness works – always show more kindness than seems necessary, because the person receiving it needs it more than you will ever realize. Kindness is not a sign of weakness. It is a sign of confidence.

As the old saying goes – to the World you may be one person, but to that one person you are the world.

Never walk past a mistake- make on the spot corrections.

Correcting a mistake shows attention to detail and reinforces standards within an organization. It teaches the aspiring leaders to have the moral courage to speak out when standards are not being met".

Over the years, I have admired and envied the exploits and performances of the following whom I hailed as my heroes (you may or may not be familiar with some of the names):

Sir Donald Bradman, captain of the Australian cricket team, the greatest batsman the world has known. His batting records will never be broken.

Sir Garfield Sobers, captain of the West Indies, world's greatest all-round cricketer - the likes of whom will probably be never seen again.

Muhammed Ali, brash and arrogant - humility was not one of his virtues. He proclaimed himself as being the greatest, and he did prove himself to being the greatest boxer. He was stripped of all his titles because of him being a draft-dodger, and in fact he was jailed. However, he did come back to regain his title as world champion in heavyweight boxing three times, and he never gave up!

Mother Theresa, recently canonized, dedicated her entire life to the service of caring for the sick and infirmed in the slums of Calcutta.

However, my greatest personal hero is a person named John Wooden – the greatest coach in any realm of sport that I am aware of. He was the Basketball coach at UCLA, with a record that will perhaps never be equaled or bettered. He was not just the most successful coach ever in College circles, he was a teacher who taught the students the great virtues of how to lead a successful life. He defined success as “Peace of mind which is a direct result of the self-satisfaction of knowing that you made the effort to become the best you are capable of.” This is all one can ask of you. Do the very best that you are capable of, and then having achieved this, raise your goal a notch higher and strive to reach that level. Coach Wooden focused on the positive aspects of everybody's talents. Don't let what you cannot do well get in the way of what you can!

I am a member of two Toast Masters clubs in California, and in the course of our meetings I did give a talk on taking responsibility. The audience liked it and they urged me to include this in my speech. So, here it goes:

Take Responsibility

“It’s not my fault” – how often have you heard or said this? Everyone wants to blame their problems on someone or something else:

•         Their parents

•         Their socioeconomic status

•         Their schooling

•         Their boss

•         Their friends

•         Special interest groups

•         Self-serving politicians

This isn’t a modern trend. People have been trying to wriggle out of responsibility since God asked Adam a direct question – “Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent.

Over the millennia we have elevated avoiding responsibility to an art form by excusing, covering, evading, shirking and rationalizing. Your life is your responsibility, accept that fact! Someone who goes through life focusing on what other people aren’t doing for him, what they owe him, or the raw deal that life gave him never grows up. In some form he forfeits responsibility for his life. The man who thinks that society owes him a comfortable living thinks like a child. The person who grouses about how unfair the world is, and how riches and privileges are just a matter of luck or corruption still thinks like a child. The woman whose failures are always someone else’s fault is stuck in childish thinking. The individual who is content to live off his parents’ largesse or a government handout still understands as a child.

 Maturity means you move from deflecting blame to accepting responsibility. You move from being a passive observer to an initiator. You move from expecting things to providing them.

Maturity means seizing your God-given power to direct your own life, to welcome challenge, to surmount obstacles, to achieve victories.

Blaming other people for your problems is a trap. The person who is responsible for you is you.

Quoting from the book of Proverbs from the Bible: "Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap". If you don’t like what you are reaping, take a hard look at what you are sowing – and make some changes.

It is with sadness and trepidation that I chose to include my take on the tragedy of the civil war that divided our wonderful land. It is now time for reconciliation and not retribution. I realize the suffering and uncertainties of life that our people endured during this harsh period in our history – for almost 30 long years. One has to learn from this experience and not commit the same mistakes, lest there be similar turmoil in the future. One has to realize the prime reason for this turn of events – the unfair treatment of minorities whether of ethnic or religious origin. Our heritage and our genes are predetermined. We have no control over this. It is by a queer quirk of fate that one is born a Tamil or a Sinhalese; a Catholic or a Buddhist; a Hindu or a Muslim. One’s views will be entirely different if one was born into an ethnic or religious group opposite that of the majority.

In the adjudication of any conflict, you have to consider three sides to any story - your side, my side, and the correct version.

You are the future leaders of Sri Lanka. Please nurture it; ensure that all religious and ethnic groups are treated equally well. Then, there shall be no strife or tragedies like the one we have endured in recent times.

The teachings and guidance by the Christian Brothers is exemplary in this regard. We are so fortunate to have come under such great influence in guiding our lives. I am ever so grateful that I was able to come under their influence. Discipline, justice, and fair play are what we learned. These precepts were hammered into our heads day-in and day-out. Enjoy and learn from the fruits of their wisdom.

What great teachers. What great influence. They deserve a round of applause.

In the course of my duties as a Cardiologist, I do try to advise my patients on the various risk factors that may affect the heart. In this regard, I talk to them about smoking and urge my patients to quit smoking. Some patients take the advise kindly, and others get annoyed. At these times I am reminded of the advise given by my surgical professor in medical school who told us: "Never try to teach a pig to sing - for two reasons, 1. It is a waste of time, and 2. you annoy the pig".

I would like to share a poem written by Michale Josephson that I cherish, the title, "What Will Matter":

What Will Matter?

By Michael Josephson

Ready or not, someday it will all come to an end.

There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days.

All the things you collected whether treasured or forgotten will pass to someone else.

Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.

It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.

Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally disappear.

So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and to-do lists will expire.

The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.

It won’t matter where you came from or what side of the tracks you lived on at the end.

It won’t matter if you were beautiful or brilliant.

Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.

So what will matter?

How will the value of your days be measured?

What will matter is not your competence but your character.

What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you’re gone.

What will matter is not your memories but the memories that live in those who loved you.

What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.

Living a life that matters doesn’t happen by accident.

It’s not a matter of circumstance but of choice.

Choose to live a life that matters.

I will just take one more minute of your time. When you graduate, you are an alumnus of the college. In my opinion, a Benedictine is recognized by his honesty! By his integrity! By his uprightness! By his demeanor as a well-disciplined man! By his loyalty! Lead a life that you will be recognized as a Benedictine from the very outset, not needing any prompting from anybody for that recognition.

The greater danger for most of us, is not that our aim is too high and we miss it; but that it is too low and we reach it. As the college anthem proclaims - High be your aim in life's onward view. Aim to excel in what ever you do. Always move forward. If you do not excel, you will stagnate or degenerate. There are two alternatives to forward motion - backward motion or idleness. Moving backwards is degeneration. Not moving at all is stagnation. The direction of your actions is your choice.

My sincere wishes to all of you to achieve the goals that you have set for yourselves. I leave you with these parting words from Sir Winston Churchill - Never, never, never,  ever (added for greater emphasis) give up your quest for your goals!

I would like to conclude with a joke. A drunkard (fully inebriated) was staggering out of a bar. He bumped into two priests walking along the sidewalk. He stopped them, "your holinesses" he proclaimed, "I am Jesus Christ!" The older of the two priests, looked at the man and told him, "Son, you are not Jesus Christ". The man then urged the two priests to go back with him to the bar to prove to them that he was Jesus Christ. As he entered the bar, the bartender was at the door and said, "Jesus Christ, you again?", at which the drunk turned to the priests and said "I told you so"!

You have been a great audience. Thank you very much for your kind attention.

Health Benefits of being active in retirement - Musically speaking

Mahendra Gonsalkorale's presentation at the Academic Sessions of the 50^th Anniversary Reunion, Negombo held on 3, 4 & 5 March, 2017.

Good morning friends, it is so lovely to see so much of you.

As always, it is an honour to contribute to the scientific sessions, even though I understand that people were not exactly queuing up for the honour!

My talk today is a bit personal but I plan to touch on aspects which I hope will make you reflect and also help you to maintain your health as the clock keeps ticking, as indeed it has for millions of people before us, and will surely do so for millions that follow.

The only thing certain about life…is death! The time to reach the second of these seemed a long, long time when we began the journey but as we near the end, it feels like just a short time. How we experience time is a subject by itself. All of us have gone through most of the usual calling posts such as school, university, employment, marriage, children,  grandchildren and on the way experienced a range of emotions including joy, wonderment, sadness, exhilaration, anger, confusion, amazement, just to name a few. We have now reached, or are about to reach in the case of some, that period we call retirement, meant to be a time of Peace, contentment, free of the drudgery of work and filled with time for doing those things for which we did not, or chose not to, have the time.

Some gave a lot of thought to this approaching milestone. After all, it wasn’t something that could not be anticipated, but nevertheless, there are some who belong to that category. Most of you I am sure prepared for it and I do hope that you are leading a life full of fulfilment, at least most of the time!

The Retirement challenge – wish list

·        Be content

·        Remain healthy physically

·        Remain healthy mentally (all about marbles)

·        Be financially stable with a simple life style – not too difficult

·        Be financially stable with a expensive life style – more difficult

·        Maintain good relations with family and friends

·        Stop worrying about things you cannot change of influence

Retirement is a strange concept when you come to think of it. It is based on the belief that work was a stressful drudgery which had to be endured and at last, the time for escape has arrived. This need not be so and I am sure it is always possible to find aspects of your work which you enjoyed and there is no reason at all to stop work completely and retire. If you enjoy your work and can fit it in, ideally on a part time basis, together with other things you would like to do, why not! It is a matter of making choices as to what you really want in life. If you found it necessary to have a large income to lead the sort of life you wanted, retirement may be difficult as the drop in your income will be significant. If on the other hand, you found the right balance and prioritised your needs,wants and desires, you would be in a better position to do so.

As we get older, it is inevitable that some of the more unpleasant aspects of aging will affect us. Age associated illness, decline in physical and mental function, loss and/or separation from loved ones, are factors which will affect all of us to varying degrees. We have absolutely no control over some of these but we can and should attempt to mitigate the effect of some others. It is my view that your Health comes above almost anything else. There are others of importance, but how you feel, move, think, and do, or not do things, will depend largely on your health and we should do our utmost to maintain our health,and of course we can. Not all escape unscathed and the ravages of chronic disease will affect some of us and major adjustments will be needed.

But health alone is not enough. It is an important basis but financial stability is also very important and needs to be taken into consideration.

We also become the subject of many jokes.

Additional years provide the chance to pursue new activities such as further education, a new career or pursuing a long neglected passion. Older people also contribute in many ways to their families and communities.

Although your finances are very important it does not mean that you should “work all the hours that God gave us” till you drop dead! Again it is a question of balance and forward thinking of what you need. The realisation that continuous accumulation of material wealth is not the way to happiness would have dawned on many of you. The transient and superficial satisfaction of experiencing Power and Influence which is all too easily lost when you no longer occupy positions that gave you that power, will make you more modest and content if you accept it, or, miserable and unhappy if you don’t. You will realise the truth of impermanence, and that will lead you to contentment.

My health advice for all of us is as follows-

·        Regular exercise, sufficient in intensity and duration.  (There is good evidence that the incidence of Alzheimer’s is less in those who do regular physical and mental activities).  Take up a sport. I would heartily recommend golf. Swimming. Brisk walk 5 days a week at least 30min duration enough to increase your heart and respiratory rates.

·        A healthy diet with an eye on your weight.

·        Check for and treat Diabetes, Hypertension, lipid abnormalities.

·        Indulge in activity which produces mental stimulation.

·        Stay Inquisitive about the world around you

·        Socialise with friends.

·        Realise your own physical capabilities and live your age rather than indulge in activities which are unsafe at your age.

·        Cultivating a mind-set of being content with what you got, not constantly yearning for material things and, for want of a better word, being more spiritual in your attitude to life in general and to other human beings and animals. Enjoyment is a mental experience and there is a lot you can do to manage it to your advantage.

·        Some of you might advocate a glass of red wine a few days a week

·        Learn to relax and relieve anxiety and stress. Gardening, music.

·        Develop a sense of purpose. The famous philosopher Nietzsche once wrote, “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how”. People with a greater sense of purpose live longer, sleep better and have better sex. Purpose cuts the risk of stroke and depression. It helps people recover from addiction or manage their glucose levels if they are diabetic. If a pharmaceutical company could bottle such a treatment, it would make billions. But you can find your own, and it’s free.

·        Stay married if you can! Married people have a higher life expectancy than single of divorced people. But the good news for us singles is that this significance disappears if the singles are have active social lives.

And now to music.

"Where there is life there is music. Where there is music, there is life." - 80-year-old jazz trumpeter, Richard Phelps, recently said at his birthday party

I would like to suggest that music could provide a means to maintain your health (in conjunction with the factors already mentioned) and has certainly helped me to keep mentally active and happy. Just like the Medical profession provides such a range of sub specialties, music is so varied that it will be possible to find something that appeal to you. There is Western, Eastern, Classical, Pop, orchestral, vocal,choral, jazz, rock, gospel, country and western, soul, folk music, Carnatic music, Hindustani music, Ghazal setc etc. I would also recommend that you try to master a musical instrument, especially if you always had a secret wish to do so. My elder bother always wished he could play the piano and over the last 10 years, he bought piano, got lessons, practised assiduously and he can now play the piano reasonably well, although he knows that he cannot be another Ashkenazy!

I was able to play the piano “by ear“since I was about 12 years old as there was a piano (sister was taught as was customary) at home and I had a “good ear”. I always wish I should have learnt to read music and play and I am yet to do that properly. I found the answer to my desire to play the piano in a band by discovering the amazing potential of the electronic keyboard. My Yamaha Tyros 5 gives me such huge pleasure and I not only play known music but compose music.

I love singing on my own or with friends. I alluded to “purpose” in life and we find it in different ways. Some find purpose as Grandparents, others through working in Charities and other Community oriented work, others through Religion. Whatever you choose, finding “purpose” never fails to enrich our lives. A recent study quoted in the New Scientist confirms that people with purpose are healthier and live longer, although it is not clear whether this is a causal phenomenon as people with purpose are more active anyway.

At this stage I play clips of a few songs I sang/composed.

Insomnia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ojE8Uvg8BU

Your image is etched in my heart: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97x1vn-vj-Y

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3TyDwvfmqU

Some quoted beneficial effects of music for elders

·        A happier outlook on life.

·        Bettered social interaction.

·        Encouraged self-expression and discovery of personal identity.

·        Enhanced moods.

·        Improved interest levels.

·        Increased communication in dementia and Alzheimer’s patients.

·        Increased positive emotions.

·        Increased relaxation.

·        Increased self-esteem.

·        Reduced tension and anxiety.

Studies also show that music promotes positive overall health.  Those that listen to music demonstrate:  [slide]

·        Better nights of sleep.

·        Diminished pain.

·        Improved memory and recall.

·        Improved recovery time.

·        Increased ability to concentrate.

·        Increased awareness.

·        Increased mobility and coordination.

·        Increased overall cognitive abilities.

·        Lessened need for medication.

·        Reduced pain.

·        Reduced recovery time

I conclude by reciting a poem I wrote on Retirement

Retirement

Wheels turning rapidly

Blurred images passing by,

No time.

All too brief acquaintances

Forever catching up,

No time.

Deadlines, projects, meetings

Rushing about on wheeled things,

No time.

Finishing, only to start again,

Is this living?

Stop before it’s too late!

And now,

Slow down.

Time to pause, to reflect, to notice

Time to absorb, to learn

Time to indulge, to take, to give, to appreciate

Time to be detached,

Slow down.

Time to rediscover Nature,

The sheer peaceful beauty of trees,

The delightful sounds and sights of birds,

The living tapestry of the transforming sky

Time to treasure all things beautiful,

Slow down,

And live again.

  -Thanks very much for giving me this opportunity to speak to you-