The most important blog I've ever written

It's been a year... A year of recovery of coming back of gaining my strength again and learning to live without limits - FINALLY!!!

You might be thinking "what happened?" some terrible accident, and incident I wasn't aware had happened. But it had gone on for 10 years. My immediate family knew all too well, but most had no clue. So what was it??

This is why this is the most important blog I've ever written because I want to get the information out there and I don't want anyone to have to experience and go through what I did for such a simple thing that no one caught.

Approximately 10+ years ago my doctor put me on a birth control named "Yasmin". It was new to the market and was suppose to have huge benefits in controlling PMS. Something I had struggled with since my teen years. My period has always hated my body and wreaked havoc with me. I switched to it and felt much better PMS wise. The silent killer was that it began to cause Adrenal Fatigue in my body.

I have always been very active and been a runner most of my life. But as the fatigue began to strike me, my runs got harder and harder. I thought I was out of shape and tried to push even harder to "get back in shape". All the while running down my adrenals even more.

Your adrenal gland produce adrenaline in your body. Not just a heavy boost of adrenaline when you have a fight or flight moment, but enough steady adrenaline to get your through each day and give you energy when needed.

I went to several doctors (5 to be exact) they all told me to slow down, take it easy and don't try to do so much and that I probably had some depression and put me on various forms of anti-depressants. I knew in my heart that was not the problem, but no one seemed to know what it might be. Adrenal fatigue was not tested for in Western medicine just 10 years ago. And I'm sorry but hey, if they don't have a pill to prescribe to you to make it all better, then it must not exist!

My health was deteriorating. My fatigue kept getting worse and I kept pushing. It made it hard to get out of bed at times. I could sleep for hours and there were times I was hard to roust. It scared my husband and scared me to death. At times I could hear in my sleep and know I had to get up but couldn't wake my body. It was like I was trapped in a sleeping body unable to move. On one particular day I had went for a run and came home and in the middle of stretching fell asleep... for 5 hours. I woke with one leg stretched out in front of me and one folded behind me just like I had been in the middle of that stretch. It freaked me out. I remember running a 5K, which I did many of, and the medical personal came along in a cart wanting to pick me up because I didn't look well. I shook them off and told them I was fun, but really I was having trouble putting one foot in front of the other and couldn't believe how hard it was. It was a stinking 5K for peat's sake!

I began to look pale all the time and literally cut off all of my hair in a pixie cut because to have to fix it exhausted me and I'd have to lay down. The simplest things took great effort and just trying to get though my day was a challenge. And most days I had to take at least one nap if not two. Many times I'd wear myself down so much I'd be in bed for days at a time. Working was crazy. I'd work so hard to set up appointments and then sometimes just have to cancel them because there was no way I would have the energy to get ready and go. I was driving to work one day and literally didn't feel like I could even make it there. I pulled over and called in sick and then fell asleep in my car.
The mental effects of not knowing what was going on with me and feeling like I was failing because I couldn't keep up with normal life was tough! But I kept trusting my gut and KNEW there was something really wrong with me. I kept researching and looking for answers until one day I stumbled upon a doctor's page on the Internet about adrenal fatigue and all my symptoms lined up. The weight gain, exhaustion, mental fogginess, suppressed immune system, the feeling like I was constantly coming down with the flu. So I started searching for a doctor who could help. The last Western medical doctor I saw told me I had chronic fatigue and that I should sign up for disability and learn to deal with it. I was in SHOCK! And I refused to take that as an answer. But I started taking any supplement the website had recommended and following the adrenal diet they had listed. Some relief started to come from that.

I found my doctor through a clinic in Maine who couldn't see me for 3 months. They suggested I see Doctor Brunschwig at Helios Clinic in Boulder that is only 22 miles from my home! The very first thing we did was test my adrenal function. It came back nearly non existent. Well below normal levels. We began an aggressive treatment of supplements and lifestyle to follow and I got some relief. But over and over again I'd start really feeling the fatigue again, we'd re-test and my levels would still be low. We'd get more aggressive and even did IV cocktails on a regular basis to try to support my body enough so it would begin to make more adrenaline on it's own. Everything would work somewhat for a little while, but I never felt normal and never felt like I had "my energy" back. I so longed for the days when I could accomplish so much in a day and be productive and feel good about myself.

Finally the answer came 10 years later. The doctors from the clinic in Maine, Women to Women clinic, whom I had telephone appointments with from time to time, recognized that I was still taking Yasmin birth control and they said that they had found that it caused adrenal fatigue in some women. They advised that I should go off of it and that I might have withdrawal symptoms. Yikes!! After two tough weeks of withdrawals I was finally off of it and within a few short weeks I was already feeling better. Even though they had warned it might take 6 months to a year to get back to normal, within 3 months I was feeling good and had my adrenals re-tested. NORMAL - perfectly normal range, that I had not fallen into in 10 years. I cannot even express to you how good those words felt to hear! It was like a sentence had been lifted and I began to really have some hope that it was finally turning around. My doctor chalked up my speedy recovery to the fact that I was doing everything in my power to give supportive care to my adrenals and once the Yasmin was gone that kept blocking the production of adrenaline in my body and shutting down the body's production of Pregnonolone (a hormone that tells the body to produce adrenaline) I was able to bounce back!

So bouncing back I am. I am able to get up in the morning without having to force myself. I am able to stay up past 10:30 p.m. and not have it put me in bed for 2 days. I am up all day!! No need for naps anymore. I don't catch every cold that comes along and my immune system is recovered. I am able to function. My mind is clear and I feel like I can think all day. I can keep up with the house, my work and a social life and no longer have to make excuses for why I can't do something, because I can. My running has returned to normal and it doesn't make my body feel like all the blood is draining out of it later in the day. I'm able to push myself as hard as I want to in the gym and not die because of it. It all sounds so minimal and simple, but believe me when those things are taken from you it is HUGE to have them all back after 10 years!! I feel like I have my life back again. I am "me" again and I am free to live my life to the fullest with no restrictions!

I share this with you for a few reasons and the first is if you know anyone who is taking Yasmin birth control or a relative of it such as "Yaz" or generic forms such as Ocella, share my story with them. I have connected with so many others who have had issues, but we just didn't know that is what was causing it. There are other ways to treat the symptoms that Yasmin helped me with and they are all holistic. I am now off all medications, and supportive supplements and completely back to normal!

Second I want to share this because I believe that women know their bodies and if we are in tune to them and listen to what our body is telling us, we know when something is wrong. Doctors can be WRONG!!! Those 5 doctors I saw who couldn't figure it out almost had me convinced that I was depressed and needed medication. But I knew my body and I listened and I kept diligently searching to find the right answers and the right treatment. Had I not, I can't imagine where I would be today. I know I wouldn't be experiencing a rich and full life like I am now. Take charge of your health care! You are the only one who has your best interest at heart!

We were at an event this weekend where they run that same 5K they tried to pull me out of back then and my husband said "it brings back the worst feeling he ever had". He remembers that day like it was yesterday. I did serious damage that day and I went down hill fast after that race. And not only was the 10 years hard on me, but on my family also. My husband hated not being able to help me. He just wanted me to feel well and he just wanted "his wife" back. I think I will run that race again next year, just so I can replace a good memory for a really bad one.

I want to thank the staff and doctors at Helios Integrated Medicine in Boulder. Special thanks to Dr. Brunschwig who never made me feel like I was losing my mind, and always encouraged me that we would find a way to make things "better than this!" And the caring and educating staff at Women to Women clinic (womentowomen.com). Amazing people looking beyond what Western medicine tells them. I am eternally grateful!

I am a runner...

It has been 30 years since I first started running... AMAZING!!! Quite the journey it has been. My faithful companion, my therapy, my God time, my sanity and most of all one of the best things I have ever consistently done for myself!!

I can remember the very first time I went out and ran and how I was instantly "in love" with it and the feeling of running. It was so freeing and exciting and then after going just a very short distance I was enticed to learn I could go further - wow?! You mean there is more than this and I can work up to running.. maybe to town?? (that was 2 miles away) LOL! But it seemed huge at that age.. I was 12.

By the time Junior High came I wanted nothing more than to run track and when I was going to be a Freshman the coach talked to me about Cross Country and I was IN!!!! I ran almost everyday that Summer!! Loving it so much. It built my confidence and gave me something to look forward to! There is something about being out by yourself running and talking to yourself in your head. I have had many many conversations with me out there...can I go further? Will my heart beat out of my chest? Will it quit hurting? But most of all a lot of "you can do it" conversations and each time I did, I grew. I realized that I was capable of so much more than I thought I was and that I could endure more pain than I thought I could handle and each small victory would set me up for the next time I had a "bad run" and if your a runner, you know what that is. No matter how much you run or how in shape you are, every now and then it's a bad one. Your feet don't want to move the way they should, your off and it seems like no matter what you do you can't seem to get back on. But then it only drives you to get back out there and run again in search of that "perfect run"! Those are the ones that come easy, everything just flows and you feel like you could literally run forever. It just feels right and it just feels so good!
There truly is nothing like a runner's "high"! That awesome, amazing feeling you get when you finish and all the blood and endorphins are shooting through your body....it can't be manufactured. Only experienced!!!

I have loved all the races in High School and beyond and all the training runs, sprints, fartlets (intervals) and easy jogs! My feet have carried me thousands of miles. It's astonishing when I think about it. I can remember as a kid when we would drive somewhere and I'd see a sign for how many miles to the next town, I'd always think about what it would be like to run that far.

I have run through injuries, slipped knee caps, runner's knee, calf pain and plantar fasciitis. And even the recovery of a severely broken leg. That one took me a year and a half to come back from and early on we just didn't know if I'd still be able to run. I couldn't even fathom that, so I just kept visualizing running and staying positive, believing I would run again!! I worked so hard in physical therapy and then hired a trainer to rebuild the leg. Those first few times running where UGLY!! I didn't know if I'd ever get my stride back, but I did. Now, if you didn't know I had gone through that you would never be able to tell. That year after coming back I trained for a Marathon, just to prove to myself that I could go farther than I ever had. My last training run was 18.4 miles before plantar fasciitis took me out of the game for a little while. It was the farthest I had ever run! :) I had reached my goal!

I have had a running partner for the last almost 15 years in my Golden/Lab mix Jake! He loves to run even more than me. He can still go 5 miles on a good day, but is slowing down now. I miss the old days of him being 25 yards ahead of me :) We also have Keela and she has become a runner too. Although she thought I was trying to kill her the first few small runs I took her on, but by late that Summer they were Marathon training with me! I guess if you hang out with me enough, you become a runner. My brother and my husband have and I'm so proud of both of them. Also my niece Allie is a runner now too and runs Cross Country in HS!

There is just something about my feet hitting the trail, the sound of the ground under my feet and the cadence of my breath as I run. It truly is therapeutic for me. I have never run with music, probably because 30 yrs ago there was no good form of which to run with it! (now I'm dating myself) But I enjoy the rawness of it, just me and nature and the sounds of the trail. I wouldn't want it any other way. This year I am shooting for a Half Marathon of 13.1 miles and I will again someday train for a Marathon, even if I just run one on my own because I know I can! Each Season I say it's my favorite Season to run, but in all honesty... I just love to run!

Happy 30th Anniversary my running body!!! You have kept my weight in check, you have formed some really nice legs and have helped me avoid cellulite, for which I am eternally grateful! You have carried me thousands of miles and along the way I have learned to love you more! I am so grateful that on that first day I decided to run! :)

A Quantum Leap!

Sometimes it takes a Quantum Leap to get something started. It can be a new healthier living lifestyle or a change in behavior like shutting off the TV at night or it can be sticking to a budget that you've set, over and over again.

What is it that keeps you stuck there? Why do we feel like we try over and over again to get on the right track and it is so elusive? Maybe it just means that the pain of remaining the same isn't great enough yet to force you to take that action. Sometimes that pain becomes greater because we apply the pressure ourselves and sometimes it takes someone else applying the pressure. It can be a turning point in your life that many of us have experienced, those jolting events that command our attention. It could be in the form of a crisis, like a divorce or job loss. Or they may be smaller events that challenge your beliefs, values and your priorities.

If it is enough to make us feel badly and have that feeling of "why am I stuck here?" Then it might be time for a quantum leap.
A quantum leaps explanation is "any sudden change or advance in program policy." -Webster's dictionary Or "It is the link between two entirely separate locations, events or ideas, that magical moment when the previously inexplicable is suddenly explained and a radical new theory is born. - Science Digest

I love the part about "a magical moment... and a radical new theory is born"! If you've ever experienced a quantum leap in your life you know that's exactly how it feels and then your mind once expanded cannot return to it's original state. Once you take a quantum leap and experience a radical change you most probably will not go back to your old ways and that's why it's worth the risk to go there! Not only that, but I believe the energy that you will gain by taking action is unmeasurable and it will give you what you need to continue in the right direction. It may be true that a locomotive takes constant effort and starts ever so slowly until it builds up steam and then it is hard to stop, but in this case I'm thinking it's like a rocket going off! One big blast and everything is set into motion and you are climbing higher and higher in a matter of seconds!

So what does it take to make a quantum leap? Let me make it really simple.... a decision. Yes, that's the answer, a decision. You have to decide that there is no turning back. That whatever it is that your going to try to take a quantum leap to attain is worth it. Worth the effort, worth the risk and what you truly want, because if it is not then there is no reason to even go there.

I can remember when I was going through my recovery for overspending and I had finally gotten clear on my problem. It was one of the most detrimental things in my life and although I was in denial for a long time and it took some pretty deep pain to get me to the point of change, I will never forget the day I said "no more!" When my thoughts shifted and believe it or not I knew at that moment that I'd never go back, that my thoughts about it where now different and I wanted it so badly I was not going to allow myself to slip back into those bad habits. My mind had been expanded. I no longer thought the way I once did about spending and I knew it was a quantum leap.

I have tried before to make that quantum leap with something that I was not as passionate about and found that it just doesn't work. It was a career goal that I wasn't entirely sure I wanted with a passion and I wanted to make a quantum leap happen to just get to the end result and partly it was because I only wanted it because others wanted it for me. In that case it just doesn't work. You can't fool your mind into believing you really want something when you don't.
I see people do this all the time with diet and exercise. They say they want to be healthier or that they want to lose weight but they back it up with all of the excuses why it won't work for them. They've already decided that they cannot give up ice cream and that an occasional burger and fries won't hurt them. But before they know it they are convincing themselves that a burger a week is okay. It is true that you don't have to give up everything, and totally deprive yourself your likes, but occasional might mean once a month and even then it means a scoop of ice cream not a whole huge bowl or a whole container! The problem is they don't want it bad enough. They are not all in yet. They are still on the fence deciding if they really want to be that committed. At that point a quantum leap won't work.

You've got to be all in, no turning back! Something you want so much it drives you crazy and you want to be "different", not the same as you've always been. You have to want to change. Then you can take that step and it needs to be a huge step. A "barf bag" goal! Something that makes you a little queasy when you think about it. Your mentality needs to be "I'm going to do things totally differently from here on out! I'm not just making a small change but I am rearranging my whole attempt! If a football player wants to make the starting team but for 4 years he's been the backup player in that position, do you think a small change here or there will get him the starting spot? Likely not. He has to totally dedicate himself to a quantum leap. It may mean not taking an off season and working twice as hard as anybody else when most are taking some down time. He might have to be the first to practice and the last one to leave, giving 100% each day. He may have to hire outside experts to get him to a level he's never reached before, but if he does all that and is a radically different player come the new season, you can bet someone is going to notice. And that's how he can surpass the starting player in his position.

What position do you want to hold? What is it that you really want to change? Sit down and write it out. Give yourself the "why" of being there. What drives you to make this change? Make a list so big that you realize that there is no way you don't want to achieve this because the "why" is too big! It means to much to you not to give it your all and change your destiny.

Then develop an action plan. Think way far out of your box here, the sky is the limit! Go above and beyond what you think your limits will be. This is your goal list of "if I do all of these things then I am sure to succeed". Then begin telling yourself that you WILL succeed! You will find a way to make it happen. And say it so much to yourself that you BELIEVE it! And no one will be able to push you off course, because your convictions are too strong! Then Go To Work! Every day give it your best effort at attaining your goals and making it happen. You are a rocket that has been blasted off and you are heading upward with such force and there is nothing that can slow you down! Put it in your space everyday so that you are looking at your goals and reminding yourself of that power you have going on. Don't get complacent by not having it in your thoughts at all times.

Then.... watch what happens! :)

What are you waiting for?

So many of us want something more out of life. We want a better job, a better life and to just be happier. Well have you thought about what it would take to MAKE you happier? Have you really put some thought into it?

What took me a long time to realize was that the life I had was the life I created. Even if it wasn't the life I wanted. All the decisions I've made, all the circumstances I've been through have brought me to this place, right now, right here, right exactly where I am. If it could be played back to me in a movie, like my life flashing before my eyes, I bet there would be parts...no, I know there would be many parts, that I'd want to edit or change or rewrite. But it is the choices I've made that brought me to here. For some people that is REALLY uncomfortable! They don't want to think about it or explore it and most certainly don't want to take responsibility for it. It can be a big pill to swallow.

We've all done things that we regret, or said things that we wish we could take back and some of those things are huge! Scary and huge and we'd just rather forget them or put them back in the dark and never bring them out again. But I'm here to tell you that you must let the scariest of things into the light because they are like a fungus... they just continue to grow in the darkness. In the light they don't appear so big and once you handle them, they get smaller.

I encourage you to look back at those things with forgiveness in your heart. Not just for others, but mostly for yourself. Forgive you for the mistakes you have made and then move on.

I have been haunted by the thought sometimes of "what if this is all there is?" What if life where complete today? Would I have accomplished the things I've wanted to? Would I be the person I wanted to be? Or would I have regrets and feel like so much was unfinished. But I do know that if I'm constantly looking back on what could have been, it is the wrong place to put my efforts. I can't do anything about what's already been done. I heard once "it's not important what you've done in the past. What matters most is what you do with today and forward." What matters most is who you are from now on.

So why don't I have exactly the life I desire? Why don't I have all the money I need, all the friends I can handle and all the love one person wants? I think about these things often. I dream about my "perfect" life and what exactly I'd want out of it. So what is it that I am doing to hold it up? Am I always thinking positively about it? Or am I wishing it away for some reason? All things are energy that you are either attracting to you or pushing away from you. What is your body and mind sending out as energy? For me it is fear. I can't nail it down for you or tell you exactly what it is I'm afraid of all I know is that at times I am frozen by fear. So I begin to sabotage myself. By not making the best use of my time. By restarting projects and not finishing what I've started. By beating myself up for the past instead of truly forgiving myself for my short comings. All these things hold me back and send out the wrong energy.

But what I've come to realize is "what am I waiting for?" Really? What needs to be all lined up and right all at the same time in order for me to move forward toward my dreams? All the lights are never green all at the same time! You can't set sail until you put your sails up in the air where the wind can catch them. You will drown if you do not swim! The answer is "there is NOTHING to wait for!" Now is the time, right now, today! If I don't feel confident about something I probably haven't done it enough. If I'm worried I'll fail, I haven't tried enough times and put in enough effort. Now is the time. I have to take action and the action puts everything in motion and draws the good energy of all the things I want out of life to me. Without action the SCARIEST thing will happen. I will remain the same. Nothing will change and in 5 years I'll be right here, where I'm at... waiting for something to happen. I don't have that kind of time. Frankly, time is running out every minute of every day and I know God did not guarantee me a tomorrow, so I may have less time than I even realized.

Act today! Do it today! Make it happen today! Start right now and BE the person you want to be and in a few short months you'll realize you are becoming that person and if you don't stop long enough to let fear creep in, you will BE that person you've always wanted to be, doing what you've always wanted to do and then you can look back at your life with pride and no longer have regrets. Obstacles will come, they always do, but it's what you do with them, not what they do to you that will make all the difference in where you end up!

Go out and live your dreams starting right now, today!!

When is the last time you dreamed... I mean dreamed BIG!

Today I am empowered by my dreams, they are my fuel, my energy and my mission in life to leave my mark, to make a difference and I have a sense of urgency because time just keeps flying by every day!

It got me thinking about the last time you truly "dreamed" not just a day dream, but a dream so big it got your heart racing and you got that tingly feeling all over? For some, it has been years ago and somewhere along the line you decided that dreams where things that were too big and never happened anyways so why dream them. Who told you that?

Unfortunately we let outside influences sometimes make those decisions for us. We begin to believe the people who tell you you can't, or that won't work etc. No one else but you can unleash your power that you have inside of you right now! You are beautiful, you are perfect just the way you are, you are everything you need and you are worthy of all your dreams. God would not put a dream in your heart that he didn't give you the power to achieve. But all the negatives that surround us sometimes can tear that down and we begin to buy into it not working out.

I want to be the most amazing women I know. I want to inspire others to drop their shell and let their true light shine! I want to use my true potential and turn it in to something amazing. I do not want my life to pass me by with my potential unused. Time is ticking....

I am working at transforming my life, one step at a time. I am working at really BEING the women I want to be and stepping out of the shadows of doubt and approaching it head on! Why not? What do I have to lose except unused potential? Right?

It starts with getting up each morning and taking inventory of my day. What do I want to accomplish? Where do I want to go? And who do I want to be today? Then getting excited about those things and hitting the ground running. By noon I want a sense of accomplishment for the day so far. Did I get my exercise in? Am I eating right? Am I working hard at those goals that will take me to accomplishing my dreams? And I'll be honest with you, I have some not so good habits that I am working to correct and it takes effort to change a bad habit into a good one, but in 30 days or so it is so worth it because then I know I've developed a new habit that is propelling me toward where I want to be!

Each of us has a story and one yet to write. I am energized and enthused about mine yet to write. It doesn't matter what's in the past its the future that is important. It's what you do today that will help to leave your legacy. Each day is a fresh start, so if yesterday wasn't so good, rejoice in today and take it head on! YOU can DO and BE anything you set your mind to! Doesn't that make you just want to fist pump!! LOL!

So no matter where you come from or what has been done to you, YOU control your destiny and you do it with your attitude. Every day we get a choice of having a good day or a bad day. Are you going to let the little things creep in and ruin your AMAZING day - if you plan in advance that you won't you'll be right.

Live boldly! Live Passionately! Live life to the fullest, because we only get one time around this life.

The Power to keep going...

I am saddened by the fact that some people choose to give up on themselves, on their lives, on finding happiness etc. I've seen people give up on their goal of losing weight because the road gets too tough, and they struggle with staying on track and so they throw their hands in the air and say "I give up" and they settle for mediocre in their lives and staying stuck right where they are. Forgive me, but I just want to shake them and say "Are you kidding me??!!!" It's too hard so I'm not going to try? You HAVE to try!

I have went to a funerals of people who didn't want to live anymore. I've known people who never fully recover from an injury because it was too hard to continue therapy past what the Doctor ordered. I had a friend of a friend who was 56 and got cancer for the second time and decided she didn't want to face radiation and passed away. The cancer won. I've know people who said in their old age that they were tired and ready to go. I do understand that and I know people have their individual reasons, but it saddens me. I pray that when the last breath leaves my body that I am kicking and fighting to stay alive. We only get one chance to live this life and I want all of it!! Every last second I can get because I'll never have a chance to "try it again".

I've also heard of a story of a women who lost her left arm and leg in an automobile accident and through recovering from that ill fated day she came back stronger and healthier than ever. The rest of her body is in the best shape it's ever been in, in her life. She decided to fight!

It's a women who has faced cancer coming back 5 times and she has been through more chemo and radiation than a body should be able to withstand, but you know what, she's not giving up! She continues to move forward and work when she can and she has a mission in life and it propels her forward.

Then there was the lady I heard years back who had been beaten raped and left for dead who said, "they got one day of my life I will not let them affect much more than that. What I do with the rest of it defines me".

What is it that makes one person persevere and another throw in the towel? I think it's their belief and faith for one and next I think it's their attitude. If you decide that the fight is too hard to face and you won't make it.... you won't. But if you believe that no matter what faces you, that you will continue to fight with all that you have and some how some way you will make it..... you will - I believe that!! I believe that the human spirit is amazing and that the will to live is STRONGER than we even know and for those who fight it has power beyond belief.

But you have to want it. And it goes deeper than wanting to live. We may never face those kinds of odds. But we do face everyday challenges and trials and how we choose to face those can define our life. If we always pick ourselves up by our boot straps and trudge forward no matter what we are facing we will choose to do that when the rubber hits the road and we HAVE to to survive. It's an attitude that you get from doing it over and over again. I urge you that you are worth the fight!!! You deserve your best effort. In making your eating choices so that you can live a healthy lifestyle and live a longer happier life. You have to keep getting in the gym and picking up the weights to gain the muscle you want to see and you can't cover it up with fat from bad choices and be happy about it. If you want a better life, you have to go after it. You can't sit and wait for it to come to you. You deserve ALL you desire! Have the tenacity to DO what it is you want to do. Be Bold, be tough and never see yourself quit. If you don't do it now, you won't do it when your life is on the line. You will fight with all your might and defy the odds to overcome whatever it is that is standing in your way. Mark my words I will continue to fight, to set my schedule to pursue my passions, to keep trying even when others tell me I can't because they do not know my spirit, I get to decide and I am deciding to be a winner and continue to fight for what I want out of life and that includes a good long life.

Go out and make it happen. Have a bull dog mentality... when you decide you want something, dig your teeth in and don't let go! And if you fail, bravo! At least you tried and I guarantee you will be better for it by trying than to never have given it your best effort. You decide.

Life isn't fair, but it's still good!!

I got this from a friend and thought it was really good... a lot to think about here, but worth the read!

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good!
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when your sick, your friends and parents will...stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month! ****
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.****
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't hurt your future.
12. It's okay if your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life with others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
17. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
18. When it come to going after your passion in life, don't take no for an answer.
19. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie.
20. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
22. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In a few years, will this matter?"
23. Always choose life.
24. Forgive everyone everything.
25. What other people think of you is none of your business.
26. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
27. However good or bad the situation, it will change.
28. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
29. Believe in miracles!
30. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
31. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
32. Growing old beats the alternative.
33. Your children only get one childhood your in charge of.
34. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved completely.
35. Get outside everyday. Miracles are waiting out there.
36. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone elses, we'd grab ours back.
37. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
38. The best is yet to come!
39. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
40. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a beautiful gift!

Hope it really made you think as much as it did me :)