Live Life Fully – Be in Your Life

by Dr. Zaida Rivene & Jim Montrose

June 2025

Dr. Rivene and I were recently talking to a patient, and Doctor noticed the patient was not being present as he spoke of himself. She suggested he reframe his comments as an “I statement” to put himself in the picture. To be in your life.

You may have even heard something like this about yourself or someone close. But what does it really mean? I have heard from some patients that it can be intimidating or frustrating as once again something I just don’t seem to get, and others, but not me, do get it. This is not what we mean.

Speak in first person, to be in your life as active participant.

The comment is meant to help. We are asking you to include yourself in the experience (as an active participant in life). Talking of ourselves in 3^rd person (“you or they”), we become merely observers of life.

Recent research with visualization done in Australia illustrates what we mean. A researcher divides a group of men into three groups. There are two modes of visualization standing outside and observing visually it happening to people achieving something and visualization where you put yourself in the scene you visualize actually doing it and achieving it.

One group practices free throws to a basketball hoop for twenty minutes a day for three weeks improving 24%. The second group did nothing for three weeks with no improvement. The third group visualized making free throws for 20 minutes a day for three weeks improving 23%.

The second group achieves when they put themself in the visualization, be in your life.

The brain and the body does not discriminate between visualizing yourself doing something and actually doing it. To put yourself in life talk about (and visualize) yourself doing it rather than someone outside of you doing it.

We suggest you change the way you talk about yourself –  use first person to include yourself and be an active life participant. This may go against your professional training but will lead to a richer life.

As a scientist/engineer, and many other professions, I was trained to remove myself from the experience to supposedly make an unbiased or impartial (objective) observation a fundamental assumption of the scientific method. In the scientific method, we want ourselves to be impartial observers that don’t affect the outcome of the experiment.

Quantum physics has revealed that the mere act of observing the experiment changes the outcome (especially if we are in a meditational state). Talk about yourself doing life and experience more of it.

Regardless of your profession and training, put yourself in life to experience and live more. May you Be in your Life! Have a great month,

Regards, Dr. Zaida Rivene and Jim Montrose

Celebration and “be in your life” throughout 2025!

– Dr. Rivene and Jim Montrose 

www.drzairivene.co.za

“Be in your life and be inspired,” Dr. Z and Jim.

Copyright June 2025