3 minute read
WELLNESS
We all have a bad day now and then. Sometimes, even a whole string of them. Maybe we feel like, lately, we are in an infinite loop of bad days. So, here we are, feeling low, feeling anxious, feeling untethered. And, if you’re like me, you’re looking for ways to pull yourself up and out. Ways to lift your mood and your outlook.
One of the very best ways I’ve found to do this is by doing something kind for someone else. Therapeutic kindness, if you will.
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I am lucky enough to manage an energetic and growing medical clinic in Mimico. This means that my opportunities for kindness are bountiful. I connect patients who haven’t had care for years with a new family doctor I know will provide them with the care they need. I pump up my staff and watch them make sure that every person they come across feels seen and cared for. I guide our expert team of physicians and clinicians through changes in their workflow, largely brought on by the pandemic, and enable them to find a balance between work and life. Plus, I get to do it all in the community I love – a place where my roots are firmly planted and my growth is supported.
I support local, and local supports me right back. LISA MEFFE
Director of Operations Mimico Medical
That example is pretty specific to me, though. Let’s use another one that could work for just about anyone. As it might be for many, grocery
shopping happens to be one of my favourite pastimes. Again, lucky me. These days, it feels like the only activity to which we are certain we’ll have access, no matter what. But the way I shop has changed, and I think for the better. Of course, I still do a shop at Costco or No Frills every few weeks, but if I need a few ingredients, some fresh meat, produce, or bread, I don’t head to Loblaws like I once did. I reflexively think of Royal York Meat Market, Young’s Produce, Sanremo Bakery, and Blossom Pure Organic. It’s my favourite new habit.
They are small- to medium-sized businesses, usually with a single location. In most cases, they are multi-generational, family-run businesses that live to serve the local population. They carefully curate the food they provide because they live in the community that consumes it. Even in a pandemic, their wait-times are minimal or nonexistent, and they have worked incredibly hard in the last 12 months to keep us all safe and fed. These are the places that sustain us, and so, we must never fail to sustain them.
Here’s where the kindness comes in – to me, supporting local means more than simply where I shop. It means supporting my social network – my friends, family, colleagues, and members of my community. Thankfully, those two versions of supporting local align nicely. If I find something particularly fresh and delicious, I might purchase some extra and drop it off to someone I love. If I can’t hug them, I will feed them.
This locally-sourced kindness does a few things: 1) I spend a little more locally than I need to for just myself. 2) It brings joy to my loved ones and their taste buds – after all, feeling like someone is thinking of you is just the best. 3) I get to check in on someone I care about in a very informal way that feels natural. 4) They are nourished in more ways than one.
This, of course, works with local restaurants too. Who knows, the next time I don’t feel like cooking and am picking up a pizza at Romi’s Pizzeria on Bloor, I might just order an extra pie and drop it off to you. And I’ll feel damn good about it!.
LISA MEFFE
Director of Operations Mimico Medical 416.201.0836 www.mimicomedical.com
EXPERIENCE QUALITY CARE AT
ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS
FAMILY DOCTORS PHYSIOTHERAPY PSYCHOLOGY & PSYCHIATRY COSMETIC MEDICINE
WWW.MIMICOMEDICAL.COM 398 ROYAL YORK RD. 416 ∙ 201 ∙ 0836
