Dream On - An Inspirational Video
This is a great inspirational video that I posted here several months ago. I thought it would be nice to post it again.
Also See:
Inspirational Quotes Set To The Music of John Lennon’s Imagine
Who Will “Stand By You”?
It’s Never Too Late To Follow Your Dreams
How to Learn From Life’s Greatest Lessons
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Mother Knows Best - by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at BlogHer)
In honor of Mother’s Day, this is my contribution to BlogHer’s Mother Knows Best series.
It seems most of us start off our life blindly believing that our mothers know best. Then sometime during adolescence we are suddenly convinced that our mother knows nothing, and of course, we know it all. But, as we get older, we slowly come back to realizing that our mothers (in many cases) did know best. Why is that? Is it some kind of genetic programing? What ever the case, we almost all experience this phenomena in one way or another.
Mother’s Day is that one time of year we are inclined to take a closer look at how our mothers have influenced us for the better. Since I am a contributing editor for health and wellness, I’m taking a look at how my mother influenced my views on wellness.
I think one of the most important aspects of wellness, is knowing when we need to slow down, and treat ourselves with kindness. And I learned how to do that from my mother. From a very early age, my mother taught me that wellness was more than just a physical thing. She understood the importance of taking care of the mind and spirit, as well as the body. She taught these lessons more from example than anything else, and because of that, there was never any need to disagree. So what were some of these lessons? They were little things; like tea time, bubble bath time, reading time, sitting in the sun time. Basically, they were wellness rituals, for quieting the mind and body.
The older I get, the more valuable these lessons become. Often times we have little control over our physical conditions, so having the capacity to find peace within can be a lifesaver. And as a mother, I realize the importance of caring for myself, in order to best care for my children. I like to think that I am teaching these same lessons (by example) to my own children.
When it comes to issues of health…My mother told me to eat plenty of vegetables, drink plenty of water, and not to eat too much sugar because it would give me a headache (and it does). She also told me not to eat a lot of watermelon when pregnant, especially if you enjoy salt on it (I don’t). Her best sore throat treatment…two baby aspirin dissolved in a teaspoon of warm water. Best cold treatment…Vicks Vapor Rub, and chicken soup. Best sore neck treatment…BenGay and a towel wrapped around your neck. Best treatment for constipation…prunes (but I hate prunes).
My mother recently wrote on her blog (Frances Ellen Speaks) about how her mother often knew best…
I remember her facing off with our family doctor. Often, when I was sick with some childhood illness, the doctor would recommend a penicillin shot. At the time, penicillin was considered a miracle drug, but my mother insisted a person might build up an immunity to it. The doctor strongly disagreed, but grudgingly honored her wishes. One day, on the way home after one of these visits, she sympathized with me saying that she knew I felt very, very sick, but on the off chance I might need penicillin to save my life someday, she preferred to nurse me back to health without it. I was young, could hardly understand what she was telling me, but I felt her anxiety. Now I realize how hard it must have been to stick to her guns when all she had in her arsenal to defend herself was sheer conjecture. All I know is, while my friends almost always got a needle at the doctor’s office, I received very few. My mother took a stand at a time when doctors and scientists denied the possibility of resistance. Now we know that–
Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria change in some way that reduces or eliminates the effectiveness of drugs, chemicals, or other agents designed to cure or prevent infections. The bacteria survive and continue to multiply causing more harm.
What advice did you get from your mother on health and wellness issues? Did she know best? Do prunes taste better if you hold your nose?
Happy Mother’s Day.
Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan at catherine-morgan.com, The Political Voices of Women, Care2 Election Blog
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This is something I wrote almost a year ago, and I thought it would be nice to include it here.
WHO WILL “STAND BY YOU”? — by Catherine Morgan
One of my favorite songs to listen to is, “I’ll Stand By You” by the Pretenders — you can play the song at the bottom of this post. I was listening to it today in the car (while riding home from my mammogram). I began to think about how nice it is to know that someone will “stand by you” no matter what. As a mom, I will “stand by” my kids no matter what…I think they know that (especially since I play the song all the time and tell them). The song always makes me think about how lucky people are when they know (really know) that they have someone who will “stand by them” no matter what.
Sometimes when we are feeling down, and life isn’t going our way, and we feel all alone…..That’s the time we find out who will “stand by us”. It’s sad in a way, that it takes tragedy, or pain to find out who the people in our life are that will “stand by us”, even in our darkest hours. The people who are like angels on earth to us–Connie. The people who were like angels on earth to us–Becky. The people that pick us up when we feel like we are in a never ending free fall of grief–Dawny. The people who save us when we just want to die–Vicki. The people who support us when we can barley support ourselves–Frances Ellen. I feel sad for the people who have perfect lives and never get to really find out who these people are in their lives. It is truly the one great blessing that comes out of our heartache and pain.
Thats all, just something to think about.
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HOW WE CAN CREATE PEACE AND LOVE IN OUR LIVES - BY LETTING GO OF ANGER AND HATE - by Catherine Morgan
If we wish peace for ourselves, me must first wish peace for others. How do we do that? I think a good place to start is to take “hate” out of our thoughts and mind. It’s easy to say you’re not a hater, but to truly live a life without hating is not that easy. Here are a few suggestions….
1. Start with yourself. Stop hating yourself. Stop hating your weight, your looks, your job, your face, your inabilities, and on and on. This first step might be the most difficult, but it is also the most important. Learn to love yourself.
2. Stop hating the uncontrollable situations in your life. Things like; the traffic, the news, the bills, the check-out girl, any circumstance in your life that makes you angry but that you have no control over.
You can be conscious of your emotions at these times. When you feel yourself getting impatient in a traffic jam, use this time to reflect on your need to learn how to be more patient. Realize that this hold-up may actually keep you from being in an accident yourself, acknowledge that traffic isn’t the enemy unless you let it be. Do this type of refection with all the uncontrollable inconveniences that you hate in your life. Take some time to reflect, see the uselessness in your anger.
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HAS THE WORLD LOST IT’S EMPATHY? — by Catherine Morgan
We all see the news, and feel badly about the wars, the starving, the homeless, the poor, and all the other sad things we are seeing on television. On a smaller scale, we all know people with hardships, going through divorce, struggling with health issues, having financial problems, and many other difficulties affecting our families and neighbors.
When we hear all these stories, we feel great sympathy and sadness. But, I think what we don’t do, is feel empathy. To feel empathy, you have to be able to put yourself in that other person’s shoes, and feel what they must be going through. True compassion comes from a place of empathy, not sympathy. In fact, most people don’t want our sympathy, and I don’t mean that in a disrespectful way. What I am saying is that people don’t want us to feel sorry for them, they want us to have compassion and empathy for them.
I’m pointing this difference out because, we need to see that without empathy our sympathy is just a judgement, and being judgemental is never helpful. When we can “truly” empathize with the hardships of our neighbors, our families, and others in our lives, we are then in a position of compassion and kindness towards them. Even if we are not in a position to alleviate the struggle of the person we are empathizing with, we will be conveying compassion towards them and not pity. While your pity is a judgement, your compassion is a kindness, and kindness is what we all need in our lives.
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ONLY KINDNESS MATTERS — by Catherine Morgan
Jewel has a song, and in it she sings….”In the end, only kindness matters”. Those are very profound words. I would even say, that these are words to live your life by. Because, it is so true. In the grand scheme of things, we are here on earth only a very short time. Many of us spend much of this time being angry at people, making judgments on others, and generally just not being as kind as we could be.
So, the question then becomes….How can we change that? How can we live a more kind life? Well I think, that like everything else we can’t be too hard on ourselves. After-all, we live in a harsh world, where many times people are not even being very kind to us. But, that’s no excuse either. Remember when our mom’s told us, “treat others the way you would want them to treat you”? Well it seems that, somewhere between kindergarten and junior high, most of us forget this little bit of wisdom. But, I say we bring it back. Don’t get panicked, I’m not suggesting anything radical. But, maybe just some baby-steps in the right direction.
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My name is Catherine Morgan, and I'm a writer, nurse, and mother. Above are links to my blogs, that also list many of the posts and articles that I've written for them.
I am now also at the Care2 Election Blog, and THE POLITICAL VOICES OF WOMEN.
