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Dry January
“Like a garden, you can choose to either let yourself wither and struggle to find your own light, or you can learn how to give yourself the light you need so that all your colors shine brightly, beautifully, and more boldly.” ~Jennifer Ashton, M.D., M.S., The Self-Care Solution: A Year of Becoming Happier, Healthier & Fitter — One Month at a Time As Chief Medical Correspondent for ABC News, Dr. Jennifer Ashton knows a thing or two about health and wellbeing. So, when I saw her Self-Care Solution at the bookstore late last year, I didn’t hesitate to purchase it. I’d already promised to make some serious changes in 2023…
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Time management
“Time is a created thing. To say ‘I don’t have time’ is like saying ‘I don’t want to do it.'” ~Cheryl Richardson There are many things I don’t do because I don’t have time for them. For instance, I’ve put off scheduling certain medical tests and reading all those epic novels that appear on lists of great books that I “should” read. But when I slow down and get honest with myself, I often realize that it’s not a matter of lacking time. I’m usually avoiding something (or putting it off) out of fear, laziness, or sheer disinterest. Truth is, most of us find the time for what we truly…
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A new way to go on
“It is impossible to go on as you were before, so you must go on as you never have.” ~Cheryl Strayed Whether we’re talking about a death, a major illness, a job loss, relocation, divorce, retirement, or any other major change, we have to find a new way “to go on,” as author Cheryl Strayed reminds us. During the last years of my widowed mother’s life, I had to manage everything from her medical appointments to her daily routines while she suffered a memory loss disease. Our lifelong roles as mother and daughter were thrown into reverse. For a long time, I struggled emotionally with the profound shift in our…
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One day at a time
“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.’” ~Mary Anne Radmacher Did you make any resolutions (or set new intentions) for the year? Now that we’re nearly halfway through January, the novelty of a healthy diet or exercise program might be wearing off. It’s not always easy to keep the momentum that fueled us from the start. Sticking with any goal takes courage and optimism. Along these lines, a reader of this blog recently wrote to tell me that she likes the “one day at a time” approach to living well. She asked if I had…
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Circus talk
“The monkey on your back may be gone, but the circus is still in town.” ~~Vanita Oelschlager I’ve always been drawn to the colorful imagery and folklore of the circus. When I was a kid, I’d often hear adults joke about running off to “join the circus” when real life wasn’t working out as planned. But over the years I’ve come to think of life itself as a three-ring circus — especially when I’m feeling overwhelmed by too much activity or drama. But as today’s quote reminds me, even when I’ve resolved one issue (or pulled one monkey off my back), it doesn’t mean everything else will be perfect from…
