Healthy Magazine Healthy RGV Issue 101 | Page 4

PUBLISHER Mauricio Portillo "Being healthy and fit is not longer a fad or a trend it's a Lifestyle." EDITOR IN CHIEF Claudia Portillo MARKETING DIRECTOR Arnaldo Del Valle COPY EDITOR Lora Incardona ASSISTANT COPY EDITOR Andres Portillo WEBSITE DIRECTOR Maria Alejandra Wehdeking ART AND DESIGN Carolina Pedraza PHOTOGRAPHY Ricardo Cornejo SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR Maria Alejandra Wehdeking CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Joaquin N Diego, MD, FCCP, FACC Joseph P. Litam, MD Melinda Smith, MA Jeanne Segal, PhD Ted Hutman, PhD Meg Meeker, MD Jack Bandel, MD, FAAP, FACC Amy Shapiro MS, RD, CDN Judy Elbaum Claudia Portillo Sarah May Bates Jenn Baxter Rubel Shelly Allie Casazza Claudia Portillo Editor in Chief We are always inspired by change. With its promise of something new and better, year after year, we delight in unending possibilities and look forward to all that Spring promises. The concept of a fresh start makes us incredibly hopeful. New opportunities are just around the corner, waiting for us to take them and run. But reinventing ourselves is a possibility many of us ignore. A redo. A do over. A starting point. What could be better than that? Walk barefoot in the park, listen to some upbeat music, let go of the idea that you must be the same person you’ve always been. Simple out-of-the-box changes can make a major impact on how you see and deal with the world around, and how you view yourself in the scheme of things. Do something that’s out of the ordinary for you and let the sunshine in or let spring rains wash away whatever doesn’t add value to your everyday life and what doesn’t give you a sense of pride or make you smile. After all, if it doesn’t do anything to make your world a brighter place, then, why invite it back into your life? This past January, I had the infamous mother-son talk with my son before he returned to college following Christmas break. He’d been in school for two years, yet the pangs of loss still plagued me as I watched him walk out the door. Saying goodbye—no matter how temporary—is never easy. For the first time in his “adult” life he told me how he saw me. To him, I was the fussy one, the one who worried a bit too much, the parent who focused too much on the future, the person who seemed to have forgotten how to have fun. After the initial shock wore off, I came to realize that my bright boy was right. His words rang true. Somewhere along the path, in my life’s journey, in between the minutia of errands, school functions, afterschool activities, I’d lost a part of myself. You see, dear readers, I too had fallen prey to the idea of perfection at any cost. I’d lost touch with the things that truly mattered. I’d chosen deadlines over happiness. And for those very reasons, I began a search for inspiring writers and articles that will help not only me, but also you, my reader, to find perspective again, to take back control of your life, and to find what makes you happier and healthier in the process. A ‘mini life lift’ is in order … for all of us. We’ve survived the rollercoaster of the last several months. Now is the time to embrace all that good that still exists in the world, and to explore all that we never thought possible for ourselves. As we spring forward, here’s hoping you read every hand-picked article and find something that inspires you to live better and strive for nothing but happiness and that which gives you your best life. [email protected] /HEALTHYMAGAZINE /HEALTHYMAGAZINEONLINE @HEALTHYVALLEY / HEALTHYMAG08 [email protected] | ph. 305-395-4554 | www.healthymagazine.com Healthy Magazine is a free monthly publication. All contents are protected by copyright and may not be reproduced without written consent from the publisher. The material in this magazine is intended to be of general informational use and is not intended to constitute medical advice, probable diagnosis, or recommended treatments. Healthy Magazine and its contributors accept no responsibility for inaccuracies, and the advertiser is solely responsible for ad content and holds publisher harmless from any error.