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Let your heart flow
Let your heart flow
Description
Book Introduction
A word from MD
A 44-year-old psychiatrist professor living with an incurable disease shares his unique perspective on how to live a strong life.
The meaning of life that I finally realized when my busy, relentless daily life suddenly came to a halt becomes a small comfort.
- Essay MD Kim Tae-hee
“I realized this when my life, which I had been running without thinking, suddenly came to a halt.
“I will live without regrets, ‘letting my heart flow.’”
A 44-year-old psychiatrist professor living with an incurable disease tells the story.
How to live life firmly with your own perspective


Even from the moment of her birth, when her father neglected her, and the poverty she had to endure as a child, she did not become discouraged.
No, rather, I have felt the world more broadly and taken on challenges more boldly than others.
So she became a so-called successful psychiatrist and professor in the United States.
Until just before that happened.
Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome.
This disease changed her life 180 degrees.
The illness left her with severe headaches, dizziness, and morbid fatigue, and she was unable to sit still for even 15 minutes of her own accord.
Eventually, she had no choice but to put aside her work as a doctor and her life as a professor.
The message she conveys through “Let Your Heart Flow” is simple and clear.
“Follow your heart!” At every crossroads she faced, she always walked in the direction her heart told her.
'Because I walked with the flow of my heart,' she was able to love her life completely and maintain her self-respect.
The life lessons she learned while fighting illness will give her the courage to live 'following her heart' and will provide small comfort on her difficult journey of life.

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index
Recommendation
prolog

Chapter 1: Why Did This Happen to Me?

One day, life suddenly stopped.
My illness that even I, a doctor, didn't know about
The journey to confirmation
With the heart of a patient who has to beg for treatment
The moment when everyday life is no longer everyday life

Chapter 2: Letting Go of the Weight of Life: Things You Can Only See

When one door closes, another one opens.
When you empty yourself, you can fill yourself with something more precious.
Embracing a childless life
That I should respect myself more than others
The truly important values ​​lie within.
Focus on what you're good at rather than what you're lacking.
Say “No” to unimportant things
Illness and death are also a part of life.
Life flows as you think

Chapter 3: What Makes Me What I Am

A legacy more valuable than money
Life with the sick
Jump with fear
Psychiatrist, My Calling
Proud Korean
Life becomes more meaningful when you help someone.
The Weary and Heavy-Laden of Baltimore
Like a pit bull that doesn't let go of its dream once it bites it
Father facing death

Chapter 4 I risk my rough and precious life

Approaching life with sincerity
Look at it positively in any form
We are all the same, yet different.
Meeting with myself is more important
Beyond my path to the path of transcendence

Acknowledgements
Recommendation
prolog

Chapter 1: Why Did This Happen to Me?

One day, life suddenly stopped.
My illness that even I, a doctor, didn't know about
The journey to confirmation
With the heart of a patient who has to beg for treatment
The moment when everyday life is no longer everyday life

Chapter 2: Letting Go of the Weight of Life: Things You Can Only See

When one door closes, another one opens.
When you empty yourself, you can fill yourself with something more precious.
Embracing a childless life
That I should respect myself more than others
The truly important values ​​lie within.
Focus on what you're good at rather than what you're lacking.
Say “No” to unimportant things
Illness and death are also a part of life.
Life flows as you think

Chapter 3: What Makes Me What I Am

A legacy more valuable than money
Life with the sick
Jump with fear
Psychiatrist, My Calling
Proud Korean
Life becomes more meaningful when you help someone.
The Weary and Heavy-Laden of Baltimore
Like a pitbull that doesn't let go of its dream once it bites it
Father facing death

Chapter 4 I risk my rough and precious life

Approaching life with sincerity
Look at it positively in any form
We are all the same, yet different.
Meeting with myself is more important
Beyond my path to the path of transcendence

Acknowledgements
Recommendation
prolog

Chapter 1: Why Did This Happen to Me?

One day, life suddenly stopped.
My illness that even I, a doctor, didn't know about
The journey to confirmation
With the heart of a patient who has to beg for treatment
The moment when everyday life is no longer everyday life

Chapter 2: Letting Go of the Weight of Life: Things You Can Only See

When one door closes, another one opens.
When you empty yourself, you can fill yourself with something more precious.
Embracing a childless life
That I should respect myself more than others
The truly important values ​​lie within.
Focus on what you're good at rather than what you're lacking.
Say “No” to unimportant things
Illness and death are also a part of life.
Life flows as you think

Chapter 3: What Makes Me What I Am

A legacy more valuable than money
Life with the sick
Jump with fear
Psychiatrist, My Calling
Proud Korean
Life becomes more meaningful when you help someone.
The Weary and Heavy-Laden of Baltimore
Like a pitbull that doesn't let go of its dream once it bites it
Father facing death

Chapter 4 I risk my rough and precious life

Approaching life with sincerity
Look at it positively in any form
We are all the same, yet different.
Meeting with myself is more important
Beyond my path to the path of transcendence

Acknowledgements

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Into the book
It was about three years ago.
The day before my 41st birthday, something happened that I still find hard to believe, and it turned my life, which had been running nonstop, into a complete turnaround.
After suffering from muscle aches and chills similar to body aches, I began to suffer from an unknown illness.
Within a few months, the symptoms rapidly worsened, eventually reaching a point where even sitting or standing for a short time was difficult.
My life, which had always been full of energy and activity, vanished in an instant, as if fog had cleared in the sunlight.
As I adapted to my life, which had changed so drastically, I had no choice but to ponder again, 'How should I live from now on?'
It was only after going through that painful time that I realized that what I could see after the fog cleared was truly important and more valuable in my life.
--- p.14 From the "Prologue"

Having been a doctor for 17 years, I considered myself a doctor who understood the difficulties of patients well.
But it wasn't.
Although I often used the term "pre-syncope" with my patients, I always thought it simply referred to the slightly dizzy and uncomfortable state before fainting.
It was only when I reached the point of being on the verge of losing my mind, where all the muscles in my body were relaxed and I couldn't even control my bowel movements, that I realized that it was a painful symptom to the point where I felt that death would be better.
--- p.60 From “The Journey to Confirmation”

I believe that if I live diligently, the other half will be filled as I see the water half full.
This mindset is especially helpful when facing difficult and challenging moments.
Of course, some may criticize this thinking as unrealistic optimism, but isn't it much better than pessimistically despairing at even the slightest adversity?
If I had worried about losing my mind or failing again when I failed my residency, when my internship grades weren't good, or when I was treated like an idiot because of the language barrier, I wouldn't be where I am today.
Even when I made mistakes or got bad results, I didn't get discouraged. I lived hard today and never lost faith that tomorrow would be better. This is why I was able to become stronger and more resilient.
--- p.89 From “When one door closes, another door opens”

Having worked as a doctor for nearly 20 years, I have learned that death is not only the end of life, but also an extension of life, or a part of life itself.
In other words, rather than viewing death as an absolute evil that must be avoided or postponed as much as possible, we should view it as a part of our lives that must be accepted even when it comes at an unexpected moment.
Ultimately, as we live our lives, we learn how to live, but we also learn how to die.
--- p.147 From “Sickness and Death Are Also Part of Life”

Although I grew up feeling abandoned, paradoxically, this environment trained me to trust my thoughts and intuition, to make good use of what I was given even when it was insufficient, and to be creative and proactive in solving problems when they arose.
Sometimes, children learn more when the teaching hand is less.
That's why I don't regret my childhood, but rather I'm just grateful for it.
--- p.173 From “A Legacy More Valuable Than Money”

Logically, the idea of ​​going to the US without knowing anyone, speaking English well, or having much money, and having no specific purpose or plan for what I would do with my US medical license, was not a wise choice at all.
It is true that there were many realistic concerns and obstacles in various ways.
Still, no one could stop me.
'Yeah, I want to do it, but let's just jump in.
'I guess I'll have to die!'
It's chilling to look back and see how much my seemingly reckless decision changed the course of my life.
Opportunities and challenges I never expected awaited me, but if I were to live my life over again, I would make the same reckless decisions.
Because I know very well that if I 'jump with fear', there will be cases that I could not have predicted.
--- p.187 From "Jump with Fear"

When people are told to listen to their inner voice and follow their intuition, they think it's too idealistic and unrealistic.
If you are happy and satisfied with your reality, you don't necessarily need to hear my story.
But if reality feels empty and difficult, if you're miserable, unhappy, and on the verge of depression, why not dream of something unrealistic, and perhaps even make some changes in your life to get closer to that dream? Even if it's a path others may view as unglamorous, if it's something you truly desire, go for it. Rather than prematurely concluding it won't work out, why not challenge the impossible dream and live your life in that direction? After all, dreams are in the mind of the dreamer.
--- p.265 From “Approaching Life with Sincerity”

Publisher's Review
The first Korean professor of child psychiatry at Johns Hopkins
A shining record of life drawn from the edge of despair

“Why did this happen to me?”


A brilliant student who passed the U.S. medical licensing exam in the top 3%, a solid career at the Harvard Medical School Brain Imaging Research Institute, the first Korean professor of pediatrics at Johns Hopkins, and a kind and caring doctor husband… The words used to describe Professor Jinah Young were splendid.
After enduring a harsh training period in an unfamiliar land where she did not speak the language, she was able to achieve the life she had always wanted.
Until then, she had thought that her life would flow as she wished, like a ship with the wind in its sails.
Until just before that happened.

A terrible misfortune came without warning and swallowed up her life.
The day before her fortieth birthday, she felt a severe headache and dizziness.
The symptoms, which I thought were just a simple cold, did not get better even after several months.
No, it just got worse and worse.
I was so exhausted that I couldn't sit still for even 15 minutes, and eventually I couldn't even speak or lift my head.

'Why is my body collapsing all at once?'

Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome and neurally mediated hypotension.
She met with dozens of doctors over several months to find out the true nature of this disease, which even doctors found unfamiliar and which even she, as a doctor, did not fully understand.
Because no physical cause could be found, I was misunderstood as having depression, and even my husband did not properly acknowledge me, leading to days of injustice.
I wanted to work as passionately as I always have.
I wanted to take care of sick patients and also stand on the podium.
But my body wouldn't listen to my head, which kept urging me to do something.
I got lost in the hospital building that I had been going to for 10 years, so familiar that I could walk around with my eyes closed. I couldn't even remember the names of the treatments I mentioned every day, so I was at the point of mumbling in front of patients.
Ultimately, this illness forced her to temporarily put aside her work as a doctor and her life as a professor, which she loved so much.

“It was a nightmare four months.
No, it was still hard to believe that this disease was not a nightmare that would disappear when I opened my eyes, but an ongoing reality.
It was so miserable and unfair.
As someone who has always overcome life without giving up, no matter how difficult it was, it was difficult for me to accept defeat.
But this wasn't a decision I made of my own free will.
“My illness, no, my life, was a challenge and a decision that I had to answer to.” (From the text)


At the crossroads of countless lives
Warm support and comfort for those in distress
Follow your heart

“Walk on the path that your heart leads to.
Because that path is the answer to your life.”

Professor Jinah Young was born as the second daughter in Daegu, which was considered the most conservative region in South Korea.
Even though her birth was not so blessed that she was only registered in the family register after five years, and even though she had to help her parents in the factory and with their business due to her poor circumstances, she never felt discouraged.
Rather, even in difficult circumstances, he has cultivated a spirit of challenge and overcome life's difficulties by creating opportunities that never existed before.
At numerous crossroads in life, she always chose the direction of her life 'following the flow of her heart'.
Her decision to enter Daegu Catholic University School of Medicine, her unplanned flight to the United States, her insistence on pursuing a career in psychiatry despite cultural and language barriers, and her decision to settle in Baltimore, a city known for its dangers, to care for patients in dire circumstances were all choices driven by a deep-seated desire within her.

“My perspective on the world, people, and life has changed a lot as I have been through illness.
Having put myself in the shoes of a patient who had been utterly devastated, I learned that a good doctor is not just someone who knows a lot, but someone who understands the patient's pain and tries to alleviate it.
“After going through all this, I feel like the disease gave me more than it took away.” (Excerpt from the text)

And now, she is even more keenly empathizing with the message she has maintained in life: “Follow your heart!” and sharing it with many others.
Through his own experiences and his life after illness, he has proven that in order to actively carve out his own creative work called life, he must follow his true heart rather than conform to the expectations of society or others.

“The day I say goodbye to the world,
“Can I not regret this moment?”


No one can predict what will happen in the future.
Even if I carefully calculate and walk only the path that benefits me, there is no guarantee that I will reach my planned destination.
There is no one right way or right answer to any problem in life.

At one time, she felt a terrible sense of loss and injustice due to illness.
There were many days when I cried out of sorrow, wondering why this had happened to me, and there were also times when I felt like I was drifting away from the things I wanted to do and the life I wanted to live, and my vision went dark and I couldn't move forward even a single step.
But through her illness, she realized new values ​​in life that she had not felt before.
I was able to break away from the life of just running forward and focus solely on myself. I was able to cherish my newfound position as a psychiatrist even more, and I was able to easily let go of things that were unnecessary to me, whether it was my relationships or my work.
Above all, I started to work harder to live a life that I can be proud of.

As a doctor who has witnessed countless deaths, and as someone who has been in the position of a patient who has lost their health, something more precious than anything else in the world, her story asks us:
"On the day you say goodbye to this world, are you confident you won't regret this moment?" The life lessons she learned while battling and living with illness will serve as valuable guidance that will make us more who we are.
It will give you the courage to live 'as your heart flows', and it will provide you with a small comfort on your own difficult journey of life.

GOODS SPECIFICS
- Publication date: November 23, 2020
- Format: Hardcover book binding method guide
- Page count, weight, size: 308 pages | 464g | 135*188*24mm
- ISBN13: 9791130632506
- ISBN10: 1130632504

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