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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, M ar ch 10 ,2 02 2 | 8 ABOUT US This newspaper, published every Thursday, is a division of the Metroland Media Group Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Torstar Corporation. The Metroland family of newspapers is comprised of more than 70 community publications across Ontario. This newspaper is a member of the National NewsMedia Council. Complainants are urged to bring their concerns to the attention of the newspaper and, if not satisfied, write The National NewsMedia Council, Suite 200, 890 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4W 2H2. Phone: 416-340-1981 Web: www.mediacouncil.ca insidehalton@metroland.com facebook.com/OakvilleBeav @OakvilleBeaver WHO WE ARE VP, Regional Publisher Kelly Montague Regional General Manager Jason Pehora Director of Content Lee Ann Waterman Regional Managing Editor Catherine O'Hara Managing Editor Karen Miceli Director of Distribution Charlene Hall Circulation Manager Kim Mossman Directors of Advertising Cindi Campbell and Graeme MacIntosh CONTACT US Oakville Beaver 901 Guelph Line Burlington, ON L7R 3N8 Phone: 905-845-3824 Classifieds: 1-800-263-6480 Advertising: 289-293-0620 Delivery For all delivery inquiries, please e-mail kmossman@metroland.com or call 905-631-6095. Letters to the editor Send letters to insidehalton@metroland.com. All letters must be fewer than 320 words and include your name and telephone number for verification purposes. We reserve the right to edit, condense or reject letters. Published letters will appear in print and/or online at insidehalton.com OPINION TO LEARN HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR OWN CONTENT VISIT INSIDEHALTON.COM Philosophy is the love of wisdom. Wisdom is the fruit of experience, in- sight, knowledge, compas- sion and common sense. The turbulence of the past two years has made me take a hard look at my life. I've re-balanced the founda- tion: sleep, diet, stress man- agement and exercise. I've reprioritized the pil- lars of my life -- relation- ships with family, relation- ships with friends, my rela- tionship with myself, pur- suit of the hobbies that make me, me -- weighing it against the relative impor- tance of my career and fi- nancial support of my kids, my life and my parents. More and more, I found myself remembering my university days when I first met my husband. He studied philosophy and spoke often about the an- cient philosophers' rele- vance to modern life. I was especially drawn to stoicism, a philosophy that has endured for over two millennia. There are many re- sources on stoicism: books, blogs, Reddit forums, pod- casts and TikTok videos. Here are my top 10 takea- ways: 1. Reflect virtues like honesty, compassion, for- giveness, stability and tranquility in all your words and deeds. 2. Realize that you will screw up, so forgive your- self and try again. Each moment is a new chance. 3. Understand and focus on what you can change, letting go of responsibility for what you can't. 4. Prepare for failure as much as you prepare for success. 5. Live in the present, not the past or the future. 6. Be grateful for what you have and what you can get from the present mo- ment, no matter how diffi- cult that moment is. 7. Live each day as if you will die tomorrow. Take ac- tion to always improve the present moment. 8. Don't simply react. Be still and be thoughtful of how you frame your per- spective. 9. Know that the feel- ings, thoughts and actions you choose to value and pursue define your charac- ter. 10. Know that your char- acter determines your fate. Stoicism has given me a way to live my best life. It isn't an easy way to live. So many people talk about liv- ing with integrity and wis- dom. I think it's more im- portant to walk the talk. Nadia Alam is a Halton physician and past presi- dent of the Ontario Med- ical Association. Her col- umns also appear on www.drnadiaalam.com. She can be reached through her website. A TIME TO REPRIORITIZE PILLARS OF ONE'S LIFE MANY IMPORTANT LESSONS TO BE LEARNED DURING PANDEMIC, WRITES DR. NADIA ALAM When Russia invaded Ukraine there was disbe- lief, sorrow and anger. The invasion and its consequences could have some people wondering about potential financial impacts on global markets. We can learn a lot about the stock market from past observations. That does not allow us to predict the future, but it can provide perspective. Here is what is known. One. Over the long- term, the stock market has provided attractive invest- ment returns. Two. In the short term, the stock market can be very volatile. Three. During periods of heightened uncertainty, volatility can be more ex- treme. Unfortunately, we have experienced this type of military aggression before, because humans have been fighting since the begin- ning of time. The topics of war and in- vesting were covered in the February edition of Inves- tor Insights from RBC Global Asset Management. It provided two observa- tions based on history. First, "acts of war rarely have large or lasting im- pacts on markets." Secondly, "periods of heightened uncertainty are common during times of geopolitical tension." Stock markets are im- pacted by world events. Current day problems in- clude military aggression, inflation and pending in- terest rate increases. Add to these world prob- lems, we have significant environmental issues. Plus, the world still has to recover from a pandemic. As humans, we have ev- ery right to be concerned about Russia's invasion. As investors, we have to un- derstand that there have al- ways been significant ob- stacles to overcome. Peter Watson is regis- tered with Aligned Capital Partners Inc. (ACPI) to provide investment advice. Investment products are provided by ACPI. ACPI is a member of the Investment Industry Regulatory Orga- nization of Canada. The opinions expressed are those of the author and not neces- sarily those of ACPI. Wat- son provides wealth man- agement services through Watson Investments. He can be reached at www.wat- soninvestments.com. HOW WAR AFFECTS STOCK MARKET PETER WATSON Column A long-eared owl visits a home on Great Lakes Boulevard. Do you have a great local photo you'd like to share? Send it to sleblanc@metroland.com, along with a brief description. Randy Droniuk photo SNAPSHOT DR. NADIA ALAM Column "Stoicism has given me a way to live my best life." 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