 So I'm willing to bet there's been a little, little voice, a whisper inside of you for a very long time. And as time has gone on in your adult life, you've probably become very adept at ignoring it, or squishing it down, or compartmentalizing it, or making it seem like there's something wrong with that voice. But in this video, I want to discuss a very uncommon aspect of healing that I think is really, really essential for today's person. Hey, I'm Dr. Alex Hine, Chinese Medicine Doctor and acupuncturist, author of the health book, Master of the Day, which you can get on Amazon. Now I've included two links below this video. The first is for a free PDF, four daily rituals that can help you add years to your life with traditional Chinese medicine. And the second is if you'd like to become a patient of mine, either locally or online via telemedicine, you can check out the link below to learn how to reach me in my clinic. And Bronnie Ware in her book, The Five Regrets of the Dying, talks about what most people at the end of their life regret, frankly. She was an end of care, I think a palliative care nurse. And so she was by the bedside of so many of these dying people. And she ended up writing this book because she noticed the same discussions and the same regrets, the same thoughts and sentiments coming up at the end of people's lives. Now I thought the very first sentiment was the most important because it's so true. She said, I wish I had lived a life true to myself and not a life true to the expectations of others. So the first principle, the first regret that was the most common was that most people, most of us live our lives based on what others expect of us or what we think others expect of us. You should do this job. You should be this kind of parent. You should live in this conventional fashion. You should do this thing. And usually the things are arguments in favor of mediocrity, right? We want you to see yourself living the way everyone else sees themselves living. That's not really a good recipe for fulfillment. Even in my own life, you know, early on I had a really clear calling from childhood. In my early and mid teens, I already knew that I wanted to go into the field of medicine, specifically alternative or integrative medicine. I mean, my bookshelf by the time I was 16 had hundreds of books fusing medicine, anthropology, shamanism, botany, ethno botany, and then going right into medicine itself and anatomy and things like that. So it was really clear my calling early on, but if anything happened as I got older and older and older, when I graduated college, people were like, you know, alternative medicine. Why don't you just become a doctor, a real doctor and earn some real money? Why herbs like medicinal herbs? You mean like marijuana or people would say things like, you know, why don't you just get a conventional medical degree so people will take you seriously and you'll actually have a safe, secure income and salary. So because I was young and I didn't have a lot of confidence myself, I was talked out of my dream. I had refused the call of the hero's journey, as Joseph Campbell said. And that began a long phase of feeling lost in my life because my Dharma or my vocation was very clear for me, which is not that common for a lot of people. You know, I had a clear vocation when young, but I got talked out of it. Now as time went on, that feeling of meaninglessness and meaninglessness just built and built and built and built until my late 20s, when I was 29. And I finally spent a year trying to open that uncover that Pandora's box and see what I really wanted to do. That felt really personally aligned with what excited me and it was this kind of medicine. Now since discovering that, the point of this is that that has been an unending source of interest and excitement and joy and a desire to study every day. You know, on a Saturday morning, I'm drawn by my work. I no longer have to force myself to do my work. And that's a big distinction that I don't think most human beings feel. When we build a life, like Brawny Ware says, a life around the expectations of others. You're supposed to get the safe, secure job. Your personal fulfillment is not in that equation. You're supposed to be this kind of mother or father and not do any of your own personal desires. You're supposed to be this kind of friend or whatever. That is a recipe of our outer outward success, but spiritual bankruptcy. And I think so much of what we see today is epidemic rates of anxiety and depression and anti-depressant usage, painkiller usage. Basically we're in this psychospiritual crisis that humans are going through. And if anything, one of the things that plays a large role is what we're doing 10 hours a day. Does that feel aligned or does it not? You know, in earlier videos, I've talked about this concept in Chinese medicine called the Qi Dynamic, which is basically a conceptual way to visualize how all the factors of your life, from the emotional to the dietary to your own unique genetics, play a role in physiology, proper physiology, or pathology. And one of the less material things that's still real is emotions. So every day is your life feeling like it is aligned with how you want to live in a way that excites you. It draws you. So you're allowing the smooth flowing of those emotions. Or is it the opposite? Where because you dislike your day to day life, you're generating this kind of pressurized feeling in the Qi Dynamic or in your just physiology. And that is sending off warning, fear, being chased by the tiger, all these hormonal, physiological and pathological specifically signals to your body that are then causing this cascade that can potentially lead down to the road to illness. The biggest factor to me is the way you live your day to day life. So I want to bring up this idea of Dharma or the alignment with a work that you do day to day and a life that feels like the life you want to live, not the life you feel obligated to live. And I know it's a hard, it's a big request. And you may have many things in your plate that you can't just give it all up. But I just want to crowbar open that door again, Pandora's box you've sealed shut my fulfillment, bring it out of the closet, crack it open a little bit and begin prime, begin seeing what's in there and what do you really want? All right, guys, that's my two cents for today. I want you to try to think about this idea of Dharma or alignment in your work, something that's inherently meaningful, something that draws you. And that's just a metaphor for your whole life. Try to build a life that really draws you and excites you. It's a big request, but very important way and a very important path to healing. All right, now before you go, I have a free guide below this video for daily rituals that can add years to your life with traditional Chinese medicine. There's also a link there if you'd like to become a patient of mine locally or online via telemedicine. And before you go, I have two related videos right here.