Special edition – live session with Dr. Diana Ionescu
~ exclusively for ALICE & Friends Circle™ ~ The
beautiful summer we all enjoyed so much is almost over, but before it completes,
on Thursday (September 16, 2021) I
was truly happy to be able to organize my seasonal book club session (the summer edition of the current year),
and the theme of the evening was wellbeing.
Since the social austerity still hovers around, as a precautionary measure, and
for everybody’s convenience, I’ve decided to continue with the online option
for my events.
At
this gathering, I was delighted to have a special guest speaker – Dr. Diana
Ionescu, who is a very dear friend of mine for almost 24 years.
Dr.
Ionescu, MD, FRCP(C), FCAP, is a Consultant Pathologist BCCA, the Medical Head of Anatomical Pathology at BC Cancer Laboratory; she
is also the Medical Director of Clinical Trials (at BCCA Laboratories), as
well as Clinical Professor at UBC (UBC Department of Pathology, BC Cancer
Agency); for your reference, her professional biography is published in comments section. That evening, Dr. Ionescu offered us all
a very interesting presentation, with valuable points ranging from a very
well-researched medical perspective, associated with lots of professional tips,
reference resources, and personal viewpoints (for your convenience, several reference links are published in comments section).
Our time together was well spent, being
garnished with lots of questions based on the presentation of the evening as well as lots of individual experiences, openly shared.
Prior to our meeting, I gave to my book club
members 2 brief reading materials (one
issued by Berkeley University of California and the other by “Psychology Today”) concisely talking about ‘wellbeing’, which contributed to our conversation of the evening.
Also, in the audience that evening briefly sharing his views was our friend Mihai S., who is medically involved with the well-known Canadian institution called "Fraser Health Authority".
On the other hand, due to confidentiality, I won’t share publicly the many personal aspects
that were discussed, but from an educational stand point I will mention only few concepts of general interest (some of
these concepts might be familiar to you, or some might not), and here they
are:
- It is not what happened to you, but rather
how do you respond to it (remember the famous
saying: “life if 10% of what happens and 90% of how you react to it”?)
- It is very important to remember that we have
the power to choose what life we want to live (it is all about the way you perceive it, it is all a matter of
mentality)
- You can’t control the external factors, but
you can control yourself (the way you respond
or react determines the quality of your life)
- If you are overwhelmed, ask for help because there
are many valuable resources that could improve your state of wellbeing
tremendously
- Many times in life we can’t change the inevitable,
so the only thing we could do is to adjust our attitude
- There are many effective methods to improve
your wellbeing, such as: dancing, journaling, practicing kindness, different
sports, spending time in nature, socializing (spending more quality time with your family and friends), etc.,
etc., etc.
Because
our talks were vivid and truly meaningful, somehow it felt again that time wasn’t
sufficient, so at our future meetings we might revisit this subject again.
Also, for your convenience
and as time allows it, here I’m bringing to your attention two materials I've put
together some time ago, relating to this topic:
Meanwhile, my sincere appreciation to all those dear friends who promptly and enthusiastically
responded my call and were able to join our group.
Warm regards,
Alice
“Health
is more than the absence of disease. It is a state of complete physical, mental
and social wellbeing.”
