Cancer inspired gratitude.

So much in our family's life has changed since Greg received a cancer diagnosis in December.

We are more present.
We make a more concentrated effort to honor the time around food.
We embrace the fact that nature provides healing.
We breathe deeper.
We are more mindful of being still.
We have eliminated many toxins in our home and minds.
We express gratitude.
The floodgates for change opened in a big way four months ago . . .

Some days, the fear tries to win.  We refuse to let it win.  How?  We live with more joy.  We are learning to trust our instincts more.  Every day we get better at living by the thinking -- do no harm. We are learning to navigate the path that cancer survivor Chris Wark coined as being the "jungle path", which can be lonely at times in comparison to the well-lit, well-paved paths in life.

Cancer has inspired me to think about what I really want out of life.  What really matters?

Seventy to 90% of cancer is caused by major, chronic stress.  Diet, lifestyle, pollution, emotions, toxic thinking, inflammation, imbalance.  Traumas and dramas as cancer survivor Kris Carr puts it.  Side note:  Kris is definitely someone to follow and learn from.  I will be eternally grateful to my friend Emily for sharing Kris' name with me when we first received the scary cancer news.  Kris' wellness and living-with-cancer-insights flung the gates wide open to thinking about wellness in ways that make a difference in all sorts of ways!

Knowing what I know now, I begin each day with picturing what I want more of in my life, then go forth with a state of expectation.  Let this, or something better happen.  I am more mindful.

The healing journey requires us to turn fear into fuel.  To make small changes every day that lead us to the life we want to live.  Inspire,  Stretch.  Push.  Love.  Repeat.  Mind balance.  Stay calm. Center.  Disregard "other" thoughts.  Repeat.

Truth is , we all have cancer cells in our bodies.  Did you know that we are made up of 50-70 trillion cells?! We lose 1 million cells each second.  Cells are replaced every second.  When our bodies have the building blocks (good stuff) they need to keep the cells strong, they can do an efficient job of killing cancer cells.  When our immune system is compromised as a result of chronic stress, the good cells lose their ability to "tell" the bad cells to die.  So they don't. Instead, they mutate and grow. Our bodies are designed to heal.  Give your body what it needs physically, emotionally, and spiritually to be well.  There is always hope.

In ways, we are grateful for the illness.  Getting a diagnosis has helped us realize we need to get better.  It took those big, scary words to create change and inspire us to live with the mission to put more life in our years.  We live to make life more meaningful.  More beautiful.  We are choosing where to put our energy.  We are being more mindful of creating space in our lives for what we want our lives to be.  Balance.  We have switched to a plant-based diet.  Greg often receives comments about the glow he has and the weight he has lost (60+ pounds).  People want to know how he did it. He will tell you he feels fantastic and is happy to share what is working for him.  Not what you would expect from a cancer patient, right?

What you eat, what you drink, and what you think have an incredible impact on your wellness and life.  Make great choices that support your wellness, and your happiness.

Two important questions to ask yourself with regard to food and product choices:
How will it compromise my system?
How will it affect my overall well being?

Be awesome, one day at at time.

With love.

Be Kind

On being kind to ourselves . . . 

“Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners.”

To remind us to celebrate successes, lessen tendencies to ruminate on what didn't go the way we wanted, and to cultivate hopefulness, ask these questions each day:

• What went well?
• What didn’t go so well?
• What do I want to do?

Be Brave

One More For Today . . .

From Glennon Doyle Melton, who has inspired me to be a warrior, not a worrier:

"You can do hard things," I said through my tears. "Be brave. Be kind. You are more than this. You can do hard things." 

Light

Some days seem to flow with grace and ease.
My heart feels light.
My head is clear.

Some days, feel as if speed bumps are everywhere, randomly, impeding the flow of things.
And then there is the heartache and heartbreak that wants to fill every single tiny space in my heart.

I am thankful for sleep that rejuvenates my brain.
Another sunrise that restores my hope.
And light that floods the darkness when I need it most.

Tuesday.

Today is another day.

Brain is thinking.

Today is Sunday.
Today my brain is thinking.
Thinking thoughts about finite life, and infinite love.
Thinking about ways to be better than I was yesterday -- mentally, physically, spiritually.

Then I start thinking about making an experience happen today.  About going to the grocery store to buy some delicious goodness.  Thinking that my favorite show is on tonight.

Always thinking that I need/want to be still

Sunday.