inMotion Magazine

January | February 2019 32 “ LIVE WELL ” by Harleen Chhabra Gupt Family Matters 1. Nature: Are your daily actions helping or hurting nature? We have all been given the gift of nature and hence, a responsibility towards it. Kiddos love nature: air, water, mud, trees, bugs, animals, and all that our blue planet has to offer. So this is an easy way to connect with them. The way our family checks this item in the list is in everyday actions, such as being mindful of using but not wasting water, biking or walking instead of driving, planting more, buying things we need versus things we want, and thinking about whether we are depleting or replenishing our environment. I’ve enjoyed rediscovering the wonders of nature through my son’s eyes. We are not nature activists, but if each one of us took responsibility for how our family contributes positively to our natural resources, we would do a lot better in preserving our planet for our future generations. What is “living well”? How do we know it, teach it and make it a part of our value system? Like most of you, I have sunny days when I feel life is great and on track to awesomeness; and then I have those gray days when I feel life is whizzing by (those of us in the limb loss community have all had our fair share). So here is my list, which measures how well I have lived any day, bright or gray. It’s rooted in our responsibilities and what we can do to give (without focusing on what we’ve received) in life. If you already have such a list, by all means, put it to use. For the rest of us listless folks, I invite you to use mine, or rather my take on the wisdom of the ages. (If you’re wondering about the source of my list below, hint: I turned to religion and philosophy.) LIST A