Cherish the Good Days, Bless the Challenging Days

Whether the days are labeled good or bad, they are all for our greater good

Challenges motivate us to grow

Allow the first signs of challenge to communicate that a shift will happen.  

Resist, evoking pain and suffering or allow, evoking grace.

Work on wiping away the perception of competition and war, open up to healing and inspiration

Once we are grateful for the bad days, their power evaporates and transforms to good

There has been an air of laughter, friendship and fun in our house.  I find myself listening with a smile and a warm heart.  The triplets have schoolmates over.  What was once an overwhelming and anxiety provoking situation, is now a cherished time.  Five years ago, the thought of having birthday parties or friends at our house was more than I could handle.  The noise and constant flow of energized kids was too much for my fibro-ridden body to process.  Today, my senses are calmed by the joy and playfulness flowing through our home.  Although, not all is peaceful, with life's daily challenges trying to consume us like a cancer, there is a sense of peace.  

Everything's Gonna Be Alright-Bob Marley

Thank you for reading, forwarding and following!!!

Terri

Shifting from Reacting to Responding

Of course life comes with stress.  Some of it we can watch float by because, with some discernment, we realize it's not ours to do.  Some stress comes as unanticipated events and some can be prevented.  I'm a huge advocate of combating stress by being pro-active.  For example, the holiday season is commonly a stressful time of year.  The stress can begin as early as October or November with all the marketing beginning earlier and earlier.  Each of us has a choice, we can recognize that the holiday season is always stressful and shrug our shoulders with a "that's just the way it is".  Then when January comes, we've gained weight, feel crummy, maybe even have the flu, the bills begin to roll in giving us a feeling of multiple aftershocks from a 7.5 earthquake.  So much for Seasons Greetings, Peace, Joy, Love and family.  The other choice we have is to take positive action as soon as we recognize the annoying...I mean, beautiful holiday music.  Some pro-active tips would be; create a spending budget and stick to it (remember, it's really not about the 'stuff'), create a time budget (yes, prioritize where your time is best spent), self-care is still at the top of the list and should never drop below 3rd.

When it comes to the unanticipated events, it's important to be aware of the emotions the event stirred up.  The unexpected event throws most people off kilter but at some point, the aftermath must be faced.  This is where we can decide to react or respond.  Reacting to a situation is a knee jerk, self-preservation, out dated instinct.  It usually includes some defensiveness and fear.  This is what creates the stress.  Responding to an unexpected event includes assessing the situation and deciding what the best response would be.  We should be looking for a response that is peaceful, mindful and good for the whole.  Lashing out is a step in the wrong directions.  It may feel good in the moment, but later, feelings are hurt, relationships are damaged and there was no focus on a solution.

Be honest...Are you problem focused or solution focused?  Do you react or respond to stressful situations?  Do you take action to alleviate the stress or do you avoid the reality?

Thank you for reading, forwarding, and following!!!
Terri

Life Can Be Enraging

I'm pretty sure everyone has had the experience of life being enraging.  Through change, grief, things not going as planned or any of the other 50 million, and a half, reasons we can become enraged.  I've had some instances, myself, that I'm not proud of... Especially when things didn't go the way I expected or wanted them to.  For example, I've enjoyed running for as long as I can remember.  In college, I decided that I'd run at least one marathon in my lifetime.  Let's call it an item in my bucket list.  I began to have pain that interrupted my running when I was about 33 years old.  In my mind, I still had this incredible goal and I even pushed myself, increasing my level of pain, to try to fulfill the bucket list expectation.  I got rip-roaring-mad!  I created a scenario where everyone and everything was against me. The doctor's were against me, the trauma in my past (which I blamed for my pain) was a strike against me, the people around me weren't doing anything to help me regain my health, so they must have been against me too.  I felt I had no control, which must have meant that someone had control.  I obviously wasn't being rational because the anger was steaming up my glasses.  I couldn't see clearly.

Fibromyalgia can be an experience that brings times of frustration and times of hope.  Going into flare with the extreme pain, all over the body and impaired brain function is incredibly angering.  I would think, just yesterday, my mind was crisp with words and sentences coming easily; no effort at all.  Today I can't get a full sentence out without losing a word or my train of thought, mid sentence.  During long flares, I eventually let go of the anger and began to accept that my life will be different and I'd adjust.  At times there'd be no flare, maybe some pain, but my mind would be clear.  I'd be sleeping better, laughing and enjoying life and inspiration would come to me.  It was like a sigh of relief.  Extended periods of this relief would make me feel as though, maybe I've learned how to overcome and heal from Fibro.  And a new flare would hit.  This cycle was horribly challenging.  I got very good at grieving the loss of my clear mind and mobility and accepting what is.  My anger came about the third day of a flare, when I realized that maybe it's not going away any time soon.  Everything in my life went on hold.  Why again, is the question I'd ask.  There was a stage of wanting to just stay in flare because it was consistent and I didn't feel the tease of wellness and have it slip through my fingers
again...for the 50 millionth, and a quarter times.

About 8 months ago, I realized that my friend, Lee's advice may help.  I often heard her say, "You have an opportunity to learn how to live in the moment."  The depths of that advice sunk in, finally.  Living for today and doing only what I can do, today, makes for a smoother ride.  If I'm in flare today, I rest.  If my fibro fog is thick, I don't write out the bills.  If pain is low and brain is clear, I pick up a self-paced project and continue with it.

I can't say that I've overcome the occasional feelings of being enraged, but I'm feeling like I'm on the right track.  I have new perspective, that I'm trying on for size.  So far it fits and maybe next week it won't.  No need to think about next week.  Today is here and deserves my full attention.

Thank you for reading, forwarding and following!!!
Terri

Be A Part of the Solution

I've always been a problem solver.  It just makes sense to be a part of the solution and not a part of the problem.  I tend to look at many scenarios to a problem and weigh the pros and cons to determine what action to take. And there are always options and choices.  For example, during a time when I was facing the real possibility of being homeless with three children, a good friend of mine said, "You can either live in a single room far from your friends or you can sleep on the streets."  That put things into perspective for me.  I chose to be indoors and it was a transition place for us.  We never had to sleep on the streets.

I've contemplated the 'whys' around those who tend to have many opinions, but don't actually take
action.  Also, some people just gripe with no movement toward reconciliation.  So far, what I've come up with, is that we are conditioned, from birth to rely on others to fix things for us.  And not just fix things for us, but a quick fix is the most acceptable.  Our baby cries and we take her to the doctor where she gets antibiotics.  Those antibiotics are fighting something that the body can fight on its own.  A child falls and an adult picks him up.  We're training kids to rely on adults to pick them up.  An alternative would be to encourage the child get up on their own.  Please keep in mind, these are very simplistic examples and I advocate holding children.

I'm sure you can think of areas in your own life where you either see or have experienced the feeling of expecting that it's someone else's responsibility to solve the problem.

Our society has conditioned us to think that we must be reliant on the government to get our basic needs met.  Our food is controlled by the government, housing is controlled by the government, heating, electricity, even our transportation because if we don't have fuel (provided by the government) we are unable to get to where we need to go.

There are so many alternatives to being dependent on the system the government has set up.  Off the grid power, gardens and canning, building a living environment with recycled materials and electric cars powered by the solar or wind power on our mortgage free house, to just mention a few options.

I agree that we need each other to survive, but we don't need money hungry systems that exploit the hard working citizens around the world.  Every Being on this planet has a right of heritage to have sufficient water, food, shelter and be treated with respect!

I am grateful that we have choice.  There is not much left in our world that is sustainable.  I see innovations and ideas that are and will be produced to solve these issues.  I choose to be a part of the Solution!

JOIN THE SOLUTION REVOLUTION!


Thank you for reading, forwarding and following!!!
Terri

Where You are is Exactly Where You're Meant to Be!

There is so much judgement in the world.  Too much if you ask me.  We are brought up with rules and expectations.  For example; it is expected that we will succeed and in that sense, it means that we will have a great job, make lots of money and be everything to everyone.  And I can't forget how important it is to not be chronically ill or become very sick.  Did you know that sickness is looked at as a weakness?  Of course you knew that!  Did you know that it's not the truth?  If sickness were thought of as a weakness, it would translate into every ill person being weak.

I see it differently!  The ill must have courage.  Those with chronic disease must find meaning in alternative places.  The physically challenged are forced to function in this world in unique ways.

I see that in our evolutionary time, everyone has challenges.  They may be physical, financial, social, spiritual, etc. but why?  Why does it seem as though there is more struggle in the world now, in 2013?  Could it be because we each must learn our own way of functioning in this ever changing world?  Challenge creates an opportunity to grow.  Without the challenge, and some mystics call it suffering, we may not be motivated to grow and change to make ourselves and the world a better place.

Once we acknowledge that there is a reason for our challenge and we embrace the opportunity to be
better, the feeling of suffering will lift.  The challenge may not go away, but with new perspective, our true gifts will emerge.  Each and every one of us has a very unique gift to cultivate within.  We have a responsibility to find it, learn about it, explore it and then...share it with the world!  We need every soul on this planet to go within and be amazed at what is there.  Energy flows and excitement grows.  Remember the feeling you had as a child, when you rode a bicycle for the first time, or you completed your first science project or maybe your first kiss.  When we uncover our unique gifts, it feels better than all those things put together.

Embrace where you are now.  If it weren't for this place, you wouldn't be able to get to the next. The way we embrace the challenges is with self kindness and nurturing.  It's ok, it's not selfish, it's self-love and that's a good thing!

Thanks for reading, forwarding and following!!!
Terri

Time for a New Course of Action

I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 2002 and have gotten little support from the mainstream medical profession and an increase in the severity of the symptoms.  Even my Rheumatologist told me that if I'm unable to tolerate prescription medications, that there was nothing more she could do for me.  I've been to every specialist that my insurance would agree to cover; pain management, physical therapy, psychiatry, gastrointestinal specialist, neurologist, biofeedback, water therapy and rheumatology.  All of which have not been successful in helping me with this chronic illness.

I feel as though I am shuffling through a deck of cards and not finding the Ace of Hearts.  Each doctor's visit takes time and energy and ends with a prescription pad.  When I'm not in a fibro fog, I am a pretty good advocate for myself, but with the fog, the prescription gets written.  On the days when my head is clear, I remember to let the doctor know or remind the doctor that my body does not tolerate prescriptions well.  At this time in my healing process, I am turning down all prescriptions.  After 12+ prescriptions in the last two years and multiple ER visits due to severe side effects, I'm done looking for answers in the mainstream medical community.

I've decided to seek out a naturopathic community to, at least, get a comprehensive evaluation of how my body is challenged as a whole.  My inner knowing tells me that there are toxins that I may have or still am exposed to that my chemical make-up is seriously effected by.  I also believe that it is possible to treat the many systems, in the body, as one system and not a slew of separate systems working independently of each other.  The internal organs, blood, brain, nervous system, etc. each have important jobs, not one more important than the other, but each specializing in an area that effects all other areas.  The body is a wonderful and intelligent community.

Maybe my body is mirroring my outer state of mind, not knowing the work I'm meant to do in the world. My inner systems may not remember or have a clear sense of their individual jobs and how to connect and create a healthy whole.  Is it possible that the heart has been misled into believing that it's only purpose is to beat and circulate blood to the rest of the body?  Now we are learning, through modern science, that the heart is working similarly to the brain.  It's even been called our second brain.  We've almost, been aware of this for as long as we've been using the phrase, "Listen to your heart." or "Follow your heart."  I think it's very possible that the systems in the body, each have more potential than we give them credit for.  One thing I do know, is they are suppose to be working together, efficiently coordinated and in harmony.  The music my body is playing is not pretty, although, I know it can be.

I have felt like cattle when going to mainstream medical doctors.  They are trained to listen to symptoms and based on a grouping of, sometimes, overlapping symptoms, diagnose and write prescriptions.  Often, one prescription's purpose is only to offset the side effects of another prescription.  The treatment is splintered and not cohesive.  I would hear, "next" by the nurse waiting at the door for the next patient in a line of many, shuffled into a cold, sterile feeling room for another waiting period.  The doctor would come in, check the stats the nurse took, listen to my heart and my breath.  Then would send me into flare by pushing all the tender points on my back, ask a couple of questions and send me on my way.  I understand that efficiency can be achieved by having a set routine for patient visits, but it can turn into a cookie cutter system that doesn't necessarily treat the patient effectively but still gets paid, well.

I am choosing to find an integral approach to healing my body.  This approach will also look at an important part that is often left out of the healing process and that's the soul.  As much as I believe that it is completely possible for a person to live in peace and harmony, I believe the body can as well.

Thank you for reading, forwarding and following my posts!!!

One Day...

One day everyone will know peace in their hearts

One day we will all live sustainably

One day we will know, without a doubt, our connection to the earth

One day the term McMansion will be an urban myth

One day each of us will naturally and joyfully serve

One day we will understand our individual places in the world

One day we will all work together for the greater good

One day we will see and flow with signs of change having faith in our souls

One day money will be no more

One day exchange will be fair and good

One day our masks and the illusion will be erased

One day love will eradicate pain and fear

One day schools will teach our children how to see and use their individual gifts

One day everyone will live in health, prosperity and balance
One day all living things will thrive

CHOOSE TODAY!

-Terri Naroian 2013