So I have been more observant these days as I am trying to cleanse myself from the digital, cellphone, media word. Ironically I am on the computer writing this but felt if everybody is on their cellphone chances are they will read this and reflect upon their own behavior. 

I am writing this in LAX airport. I have walked literally from bathroom to my wife sitting about 20 feet from the bathroom and have already counted 30 people, 20 people on cell phones, 1 actually talking on the phone, and the rest reading some form of paper media, shocking I think not! 

People are obviously not emersed in their surroundings, shoot I have a baby trying to smile and giggle right in front of the guy and he doesn’t even realize my wife is breast feeding in front of him. Are we so cought up by stupid digital media. Is this the way humans are going to interact. 

We all need a digital cleanse even if it’s a few weeks. When hanging out with friends just have one bring a phone for emergencies. No phones while eating and don’t sleep by your phone. You are a slave to it, and it is consuming you, your children, and their way of expressing emotion on a most purest level. 

Even if you use your phone to wake you up just invest in a 5 dollar alarm clock. Stop the excuses and limit the digital stuff. Be more human, interact with a stranger, a wife, a husband. Increase your social network in reality. Not Facebook, instagram, etc. I believe Americans have about 1.5 friends per person. Let’s make this 10 or even 50! 

– Dr Sarela 

So tonight while I admitted a patient today I felt sorry for him. He was clearly in need of a lot of medical help and assistance. Disheveled, very sick, while having a raging cellulitis & pneumonia. He was homeless and I decided to look into homeless rate statistics. I live in Tucson, AZ and according to the Hope and Glory Ministries in “2015, DES reported 2,957 homeless in Arizona, a 18% increase from 2014. Pima county accounting for 15% of the states total population, and 16% of the states homeless population.” 1762 homeless people on Jan/2016 per the Tucson/Pima Coalition to End Homelessness (TPCH) was recorded per their information gathering. Of this population 479 had mental illness, 460 with substance disorders, 90 with HIV/AIDS, and 333 victims of domestic abuse, 281 were veterans. Obviously this is not the most accurate information, as tracking every individual can be challenging but give a rough idea.

Look up the rates in your city! You may either be shocked or not at all. Next time, when you see somebody on the street, rather than judging what could have been the cause of their homeless state – just offer them good wishes, food, etc. Count your blessings, and reflect that even you think you have it bad, somebody else is going through something 10x harder.

Proverbs 14:31 “Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him.”

-DR SARELA