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Turning the Negative to Positive — Podcast Interview
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Giving Thanks With A Chronic Illness
As the Holidays are coming into full swing it brings with them a wave of emotions for me. This is where the depths of my Chronic Illness showed it’s ugly face and forced my plans and priorities to take a different turn. Last Thanksgiving was the first really bad day I had with my disease, and for the first time in my life, I was unable eat a bite of food during our Thanksgiving meal. This year, although things are far from perfect and ever evolving for me, I am beyond thankful to be able to eat and have a full stomach! I am thankful to be surrounded by family…
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What A Difference A Year Can Make
I head down the stairs like I do every morning, but for some reason this one was different. I walked down and as each step went by, I had the clearest flashback to a time when I was at my lowest. I recall my heart beating slower, and slower. I remember holding onto the railing with all I had in me as I started to lose my footing. I reached my hands slowly down the wall in search ofthe light switch in which I never found. I remember getting to the bottom of the stairs where my legs now felt like liquid, and my mind was dazing off into another…
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Guide To Responding Vs. Reacting
Every night, my journal prompts me to look back at my day and write down two things I wish I would have done differently. I quickly noticed a common denominator at the end of each day. Nine times out of ten it has something to do with a Reaction I had, whether it was reacting to a person, traffic or construction, or simply reacting to my surroundings. When we react it is often a decision made quickly, subconsciously and is often a result of our emotions. To respond simply means we are giving ourselves space between the situation and our interpretation. This allows us time to, yes consider our emotions,…
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Social Media and the Shameless Truth Teller
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, we find ourselves scrolling more than we probably even notice. One thumb swipe leads to the next and before you know it, an hour has gone by. Our friends will let us have a front row seat into their personal lives, family vacations, child milestones etc. However, nine times out of ten we are only seeing the shiny, happy things that happened during that road trip they took….not the child who had a poop accident while in the car seat, cough cough! People can appreciate your strengths, but will relate more to your weaknesses. So why are we all hiding behind our screens and portraying this shiny…
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Perspective
Perspective. It is so easy to lose sight of this. For me, I have to give myself a daily “perspective check” and sometimes it isn’t pretty. —Here are a couple examples– One— My health: We all know by now, I’ve been through it this last year! However, these last 6 weeks haven’t exactly gone as I’d hoped either. In my mind, the third surgery would be complete, I’d be back to eating as I please and on to a “normal” bathroom habit. Right? W r o n g! Instead I have been placed on antibiotics for the 3rd time to treat Pouchitis, which is basically Ulcerative Colitis of the Pouch…
