Tag Archives: inspiration

You Are Worth Life…

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There have been 2 celebrity deaths in the past week due to suicide.
This in itself is tragic. These two people left family, friends and fans to question their actions and grieve their loss.

Though the death of these two people will raise awareness, for a time, the reality is there are tens of thousands (nearly 45,000 in 2016 according to the CDC) of people that die each year by their own hand.

This means there are probably hundreds of thousands of people at risk of suicide. Hundreds of thousands of people suffering…people all around us…in pain.

Are 45,000 people news worthy? Are all the families grieving the loss, questioning their own actions and seeking comfort news worthy?

Our world has become so fragmented. So much despair is broadcast across social media. So little hope is brought to the light.

I would like to say to anyone that might be reading this…there is hope, there is a light just around the next corner…don’t give up. Step around that next corner and if necessary step around another corner…keep moving forward…you will find the brightness of light…just don’t give up.

You are worth it…you are worth living…you are worth loving.

(United States) National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK (8255)

A Healthier Life – part 3

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Last night I mentioned becoming an unhealthy vegetarian…Its really amazing how easy that was to do.

Two and a half years ago Tina and I decided we would eat vegan, avoid processed foods and not eat sugar. We agreed to do it for 6 weeks. We ended up following this diet for 4 months. We both felt great, healthy, energetic and of course lost weight. At no point did we plan to remain vegan. we thought it would be a good kick start to healthy living.

During that 4 month period I was able to give up my multiple pots a day coffee habit and Tina quit drinking sodas. We convinced ourselves we had the bad habits of unhealthy eating conquered.

I did know I wanted to remain vegetarian and Tina (with the exception of Thanksgiving turkey) agreed she would remain vegetarian too. We slowly started adding foods back into our diet. We intended to keep it under control…we really did. We started justifying foods we had done so well without for 4 months.

Needless to say we did not keep it under control. Fried foods snuck back into our diet, sugars took control of our taste buds and the convenience of processed foods made it hard to say no.

We realized we had made a mistake and both agreed we wanted to return to the diet we were on for those 4 months.
It had been so easy to give all the unhealthy stuff up…doing it again should be a piece of cake (I really couldn’t resist throwing the cake reference in!)
But it wasn’t…no matter how much we talked about it. No matter how determined we were…we couldn’t seem to find our way back.

Finally…the stars aligned, and on May 25, 2017 (2 years and 4 months after we started adding foods back into our diet) we returned to a vega diet. Once again we stopped eating sugar and processed foods. We both realize the mistakes we made 2 years ago and we are policing ourselves to make sure we avoid the same mistakes this time.

Path…Finding Life’s Lesson

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Each time we choose a path we risk obstacles.

But not all obstacles are bad.

Sometimes life requires bumps and dips to get us to the place we need to be.

Sometimes we need to walk through a lot of muck to learn the lessons we will need tomorrow.

Don’t grimace at the obstacles, embrace them and embrace the lessons you will learn.

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Perdernales Falls State Park – Texas

Post inspired by The Daily Post – Weekly Photo Challenge

Choices

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I am always impressed when I see a plant (even a weed) growing from concrete. It seems that one plant decided, against all odds, it would live and maybe even bring a spot of joy into someone’s day.

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There are people in our world that are the same way. They choose to make people smile even if their life hasn’t always been a ray of sunshine. They decide not to allow the place they were planted to dictate how they grow.

Sometimes it is an individual that holds the door for the next person. Sometimes it is a teacher that inspires children to be more than anyone else has told them they could be. Maybe it is a person of wealth that shares their financial excess with those that have so little. Often times it is that person that views their challenges as a gift to be shared rather than a punishment to be feared.

I am grateful for people, much like this plant,  that choose to grow toward the light rather than hide in the darkness.