catherine-morgan.com

We all know that nothing stays the same.  And we know that life is constantly changing.  However, I think that we all under-estimate this fact in many ways.  What I mean is…When things are going great in our lives, we don’t think about the times that they weren’t so great.  And, when things are going badly and we are feeling sad, it’s sometimes hard to remember that we were ever happy.  In both these cases, it is important for us to not only remember, but to also reflect.

I think this is important because if we take some time to reflect on the bad days, on days that are going well for us, we can get a better perspective on our lives.  Seeing a bad day from the perspective of a good day, allows us to become “aware” of the notion that time heals.  Something that on our bad days, we may not be able to fully appreciate.

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The swine flu vaccine will be available very soon, but there is still skepticism surrounding its safety. Generally, I have a strong opinion about these types of things, but my feelings about this vaccine are still uncertain.

One thing I am sure about though…This vaccine should not be made mandatory for anyone (including health care workers). I do believe health care workers should be among the first to have access this vaccine, since they will be the ones treating the sick. However, making it mandatory and threatening peoples jobs (especially in this economy) is totally unacceptable. But that is exactly what is happening in some states.

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It is Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month.  But why do we need to have more awareness of gynecologic cancers?  Well, there are many reasons, here are three.

1. We need to be reminded of the early warning signs of these types of cancers. Not just for ourselves, but for all the women in our lives.

You could someday be the one who tells a friend she needs to see a doctor for a particular symptom she is having. You could be the one who contributes to saving her life because she caught her cancer early.

2. We need to understand that even as we go about our days untouched by cancer, there are many other women who are not as fortunate…And we need to have compassion and empathy for those women.

3. Knowledge is power…And we do not have to be powerless in the face of gynecologic cancers.

I hope that this post will address each of these aspects of awareness.

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Do you want to lose weight, feel healthier, or just start eating better?  Jumping off the junk food band-wagon isn’t easy.  Making the decision to give it a try is a great first step.  But quitting cold-turkey is generally a bad idea. Sometimes making small changes, and working up to more, is a better way to do it.

Make one change in your diet today, and keep it up for a week.  Then in a week, make another change.  Keep adding to your healthy eating changes week after week, until eating healthy is just what you do.

Here are a few places you can start.

1. Eliminate or limit your intake of refined sugars, (ie: cookies, cakes, candy, soda, etc.), nature sugar from fruits are o.k.

*I have been doing really good with this one.  I conquered my sugar addiction about 10 days ago, and I didn’t even have cake on my birthday.

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Is stress wearing you down? Are you worried about the bad economy? Your job? The mortgage? Your health? Your family? If so, you are not alone.

Life is always changing, and that can feel very stressful. But often, seemingly bad things will happen in our lives, that will actually turn out to be the catalysts to something positive. It’s very true that when one door closes another will open. Although it never feels so great when that one door closes. Recently I’ve had several doors close on me. But as hard as it’s been, I can already see that these things needed to happen to bring me closer to where I am meant to be.

There are three things we can do to help relieve the stress in our lives…

Continue reading the full post here.

Birthdays: How do they make you feel?

Today is my birthday. Should I be stressed because I’m getting (and looking) older? Or should I be grateful for the opportunity to have another year of life?

I know the politically correct answer is – be grateful. But truthfully, it’s more of a mixed bag for me. I admit that I like it when people tell me that I don’t look my age (even when I know they are probably lying). But at the same time, I really am thankful for every day of my life. And overall, I’m more grateful for turning 23 33 43 than stressed about getting older.

This summer I was honored to be asked to become part of The American Cancer Society’s Blogger Council.   The American Cancer Society is trying to change the way women think about their birthdays through their More Birthdays Campaign…

To most people, birthdays are just a reminder that they’re getting older. But at the American Cancer Society, “Happy Birthday” is a victory song, because a world with less cancer is a world with more birthdays. And that’s definitely something to celebrate.

More than 11 million Americans who have survived cancer—and countless others who have avoided it—will celebrate a birthday this year, thanks to the progress we’re making together to help people stay well and get well, to find cures, and fight back.

So I’ve declared The American Cancer Society the official sponsor of my birthday. Here is the link to my American Cancer Society Birthday Page…

http://main.acsevents.org/goto/catherinemorgan

Let me know what you think, and feel free to also leave a small donation to The American Cancer Society.

Women blogging about birthdays…

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Here are three easy tips that can help anyone become a healthier version of themselves.

1. You are what you eat, and it is never too late to start eating healthy. Every day, try your very best to put healthy foods and plenty of water into your body. When you have a choice between something healthy and something not healthy, go with the healthy choice. But, don’t be too hard on yourself on the days you fall back into old habits. There is no rule that says, to be healthy you have to be perfect. Even if you are eating healthy 50% of the time, that is still better than none of the time.

If you are one to never go for the healthy choice, then start today with a commitment to eat one thing that is good for you (just one thing that you would normally not eat), and do that for a week. After a week, start eating two things that are good for you, and so on, and so on. Before you know it, you’ll be eating healthy half the time…And that’s a great start.

You can start today, loving yourself and your family enough to stop poisoning your body with unhealthy foods. Heart disease is the number one killer in our country. And 80% of heart disease is due to eating an unhealthy diet that leads to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. Start today, and take a bite in the right direction…Your heart will thank you.

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Joint pain in my hands and wrists has been making typing on this laptop (and a lot of other things) somewhat problematic over the last few weeks.  Usually when this kind of thing happens to me it only lasts a couple of days, and I generally try to ignore it.   I’m not at all excited about the prospect of having any additional medical problems.

Although my doctor believes I may have Rheumatoid Arthritis and would like me to get the blood-work to confirm it…I’m resisting.   Instead, I’ve agreed to at least use Tylenol and take other (non-medical) measures to reduce the pain and swelling.  Obviously, if things get worse, I will follow my doctors advice and see a Rheumatologist.

Until then…

One thing I’m going to try is to incorporate more anti-inflammatory foods into my diet.  A few weeks ago I wrote about the benefits of an anti-inflammatory diet, and I think it’s definitely something I should try.

I also plan on checking out a lot more blogs written by women with arthritis.

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Adult and Child ADHD Awareness Week

This week has been designated as a week to raise awareness and change perceptions of adult and child Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).  And this year there will be a focus on the reasons why early diagnosis is so important.

Because proper diagnosis is so important, I’m starting this post with information about the common symptoms of ADHD, and I’ve ended it with informative links.

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Conquering Sugar Addiction:  The First Step Towards A Healthy Diet (and the toughest).

Okay, here’s the thing…I have seriously fallen off the healthy eating wagon this summer.  Of course this isn’t entirely my fault.  And if we’re going to place blame, some of that should go to my son.  Because for some reason, he was compelled to make homemade brownies once or twice a week throughout the entire summer…And I was (obviously) compelled to eat them.

Even though I see my son as part of the problem, he would probably say (and has said), that it is my sheer lack of will power and self control that is the real problem (such wisdom he has).

But regardless of who is to blame (me Brian someone other than me the economy my mother my daughter me), now that he’s off at college, I can’t really use him as an excuse for my bad behavior.

So the question now is…

What am I going to do about it?

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