Category Archives: Medical

Sunny Thoughts Welcomed Here

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Life is not about what happens to us, it is all about how we respond to it. ~ Unknown

I laughed the other day. My niece posted on her Facebook page that she was at a Baltimore Ravens game and it was “freeeeeeezzzzzzing.” Really, in mid-November? The geographic coordinates of Maryland wouldn’t indicate terribly dramatic temperatures.  I commented that she doesn’t understand what cold reeeealy means. She has never lived in locations where there are artic temperatures. As I write this blog this morning it is twenty-four below zero here  in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. It is not expected to rise above zero today.

sunny thoughts  My motto every winter becomes “The sun is going to shine on me today, no matter what!”. Where I live 350 – 400 inches of snowfall annually is not unusual. It’s piled steep and deep for many, many long months. Sometimes when the temperatures dip so low, I have to dress in so many layers, I walk and move like a penguin.

I put out a welcome mat for Mother Nature, and look what happened she arrived in all her fury. Up until now she has been just teasing us.  I’ll turn these cold blustery days into warm, sunny fulfilling  thoughts through visualization.  http://expertenough.com/1898/visualization-works.

Where has this week gone? Did you notice it is snowing as you read this blog? Today on this thoughtful Thursday, I’d like to encourage you to return to All Things Fulfilling tomorrow for Film Friday. I will be featuring a movie and the critique of it from a New York Times best selling author. He has some very interesting things to say about weathering life’s storms.

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Right, No Matter What

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“If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you‘re right.” – Henry Ford

This adage is all about “mind over matter,” a motivational principle that became popular in the 1960s and 1970s. The phrase means” the mind is more powerful than the body,” according to Wikipedia.com.

Little Engine that CouldThe “mind over matter concept” was integrated into the storyline of a children’s book all the way back in 1930 when “The Little Engine That Could” was published by Platt and Monk. This tale is still popular today. In fact, as recently as 2007, an on-line poll rated the book as one of the Teachers Top 100 Books by the National Education Association.

In yesterday’s blog, I mentioned the recent speech I gave about Helicopter Parenting. Within the context of the speech I cite the fact that if parents do everything for their children, kids start to doubt themselves and lose confidence in their abilities. They begin think they can’t or may not be able to handle a task. Here is a relevant article about the power of the mind and how to use it as a great tool. http://bit.ly/IllFOz.

In my speech I related some of my own experiences in life. To this day, I count myself as a very fortunate child because my parents didn’t let me know that I may face an uphill battle when trying to accomplish certain goals. They expected me to be able to keep up with everyone else. Guess what – it usually worked!

Thanks, Dad and Mom! Now that I am “big,” an adult, that is, I can I admit you were right!

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com. Hope you’ll return to All Things Fulfilling tomorrow for more self-fulfilling thoughts.

Preparing for the Stump

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“Speaking from the heart can be the strongest move of all.” ~ Rick Hanson, PhD 

How many of us stay within our comfort zones just because it is easier? I can’t exempt myself from that. There have been many, many times in my life when I have taken the easy way out.

Most people say “public speaking is outside of their comfort zone because it is terrifying and they avoid it all costs.” In fact when I talk with potential clients about their book marketing plans that is the first thing authors mention that they WILL NOT DO.  “If you think I am going to get up in front of a crowd and talk about my publication,” they say, “just forget it.”

speaking from the heartIn September, I decided that I was going to step outside my comfort zone and tackle my own discomfort with public speaking. I enrolled in a class. I have not shied away from speaking to groups completely. In fact, over the past five years I have done more public speaking than any other time in my life.

Guess what? It feels good to move ahead, rather than staying stuck because of self-imposed limitations. Am I cured of glossophobia – the fear of public speaking? I think so because I know I CAN DO IT! In fact I am proud to say for my most important speech of the semester I even impressed myself! What was my message? Something I have strong opinions about. I spoke from the heart about “Helicopter Parenting.”

I have made a further challenge with myself. I will seek every opportunity I can to get up in front of a crowd. So, don’t be surprised to see me out on the stump, especially when my book has been published!

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com. See you tomorrow on All Things Fulfilling.

Scratching the Memory Bank

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Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings. ― William Arthur Ward

Illustration of Mother and Children Carrying Thanksgiving Dinner by Douglass Crockwell

What memories this nostalgic image of Thanksgiving stirs up. I will forever be grateful for how my mother so beautifully pulled off our childhood holidays. Tradition ruled in our house.

Just setting the table for a holiday meal was a chore in and of itself. All the good dishes came out of the china cabinet, and the silverware had to be shinned to a spit and polish before it was approved to go on the table. Setting the table with one fork, knife and spoon was almost considered blasphemous back in the era of my growing-up (1950’s and 60’s). My twin sister and I were well-schooled in the setting of a proper table and how to place an assortment of forks, knives and spoons in order of use.

As if getting the holiday dinner table set with a huge spread of food made from scratch wasn’t enough for a mother to handle, the entire family had to be dressed in grand fashion. Mom donned her most beautiful dress, heels, nylons, pearls and spritzed herself with perfume saved for special occasions. My father dressed his spiffiest, so as not to be outdone by his wife. Then she dressed all four of us kids to the hilt. But not before the clothing was properly ironed til the creases, pleats and darts were sharp, crisp and straight. My little brothers wore clip on bow ties for special occasions. My sister and I donned our fancy holiday dresses, with crinoline petticoats underneath.

My mother wasn’t being pretentious by dressing us all to the nines. It was how most families dressed back then for Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving. We wouldn’t have dreamed of showing up at the table in anything less.

This Thanksgiving I want to thank my mother for all of the fulfilling memories that I have of our childhood holiday celebrations. As a mother myself, I know that the matron of the family usually does the lion’s share of the work. All these decades later, my mother still feeds anyone who shows up at her house. And she is still the perfect hostess with the “mostest.”

Happy Thanksgiving to All from West to East Coast of these United States! We are grateful  for your interest in this blog and in  www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com. Do return tomorrow to All Things Fulfilling. We will be featuring a newly released film just in time for the Christmas season.

Same Image, Different Feelings

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We suffer primarily not from our own vices of weaknesses, but from our illusions. We are haunted, not by reality, but by those images we have put in their place.” ~ Daniel J Boorstin

Isn’t it strange how one photo shown to two different people illicit different feelings?

gym uniformsDo you remember these physical education class uniforms from the late nineteen-sixties? Mine was yellow and skirted. When I see this picture the first thing that comes to mind is a time in my life when I felt I didn’t measure up. These feelings come from what I thought this uniform made me feel like when I put it on as an adolescent girl. As an adult, I know differently – we can take charge of our own emotions and cultivate positive feelings within ourselves.

If you showed this gym uniform from the same era to my husband the first thing that would come to his mind would be buoyant feelings of a time in his life with “stardom and awards.”

Isn’t it strange how people traveling down the road of life at the same time can have two very different experiences? That is what makes reading personal narratives so interesting! Sometimes memoirs are fascinating because we can so closely relate to the characters or the story and other times we do not relate at all, but we find it intriguing to see life through a different heart. Yet somehow through books and stories we often connect with others on some level.

Coming this spring will be a new publication, a personal narrative, authored by me, the blog mistress of All Things Fulfilling.  This blog is brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Nostalgic Images Stirred

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“When people…rethink their personal stories, they begin to build a sense of connection and responsibility…they begin to view their personal stories as intertwined with history.”~ Paul Rogat Loeb

I have kept it no secret that I have been writing a memoir over the past few years. For those who knew me in my early childhood days, they’ve asked “has writing a life story  been painful?” I have to laugh.

I laugh because as I have written the personal narrative, it has stirred and returned me to some fulfilling memories of an era that has gone by and will never come again. That’s life. That’s progress – ever moving forward.

I realize how woven history is with my story. I am a survivor and have lived through times of great historical importance. As an author, in telling the story, I’ve tried to capture those nostalgic times. If you are of the baby boomer generation, what societal changes do you think has had the most impact on life in America since the 1950’s? I’m interested in your opinion.  

This blog is brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com. The space where independent thoughts, words and views are all part of the business. See you tomorrow on All Things Fulfilling.

Give to Extended Family

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“No act of kindness, no matter how small is ever wasted.” ~ Aesop

Christmas catalogues are beginning to arrive in the mail. Last week I received one that stood out among the others. You know, all the regulars,  such as Land’s End, L.L. Bean, The Territory Ahead and my favorite – Pottery Barn.

The catalog that interested me the most was Samaritan’s Purse. Not only because you can order gifts that fit every budget, but also because of the humanitarian benefit that comes with giving from it. It’s fulfilling to know that each present gives the receiver a sense of hope.

The images below are a just a few of the 43 choices that that particularly struck me on some level, I suppose it has something to do my life values  that were taught to me by my parents. But, there isn’t a gift on the list that doesn’t uplift  the lives of others – and that’s a good thing!. The catalog is available on-line through this link. http://bit.ly/1bfZ9hh .

Extend the love beyond your family this holiday season, by giving a much needed gift to people in other places around the world.

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This blog brought to you by www.AllThingsFulfilling.com, the space where independent thoughts, words and views are all part of the business. www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

New Found Treasures

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“Treasure your relationships, not your possessions.” ~ Anthony J D’Angelo

Peeps writing to Meems in armyFamily photos are some of the greatest treasures we could ever own. Last summer, my parents gave an unexpected gift to our family by revealing some never before seen photos they had gotten out of storage. The image that really stole my heart more than any other is this image of my father writing a letter to my mother (as he did almost daily) when he was in the army. On the crude wooden desk, made with 2” X 4”s was a framed picture of the love of his life, my mother, looking right at him as he wrote the letter.

My parents were childhood friends beginning at 10 or 11 years of age. They grew up one street apart from one another. That childhood friendship developed into a love relationship that has lasted, in a marriage, for 65 years. But what transpired throughout the course of their lives and some of the things they coped with as very young adults and newly-married is part of the treasure in my own personal narrative that will be published in spring 2014.

As I look at this image of my parents, it fulfills me to know that from the union of my father (who was an only child) and my mother (who had one brother), our family has become very large. Each person added by birth or marriage is like newly found treasure – each contributing to the whole with individual interests and passions that make for beautiful gatherings. The conversations when we are all together range from custom home building and architecture, to fitness, food and fashion design, to homeopathics and neonatal nursing, to boats, marine logistics and shipping, to writing, publishing and filmmaking. (How is that for a run on sentence?) And lest I forget – we now have a student of equine medicine in training! Diverse and widespread interests all in one family. But what binds us all together, besides the caring, is the love of books and reading, first nurtured by my parents.

If you are wondering how to instill a love of reading in your children, here is an article with 11 great tips.http://bit.ly/19RMGTO

And all these years later, despite every life challenge and obstacle, my parents are still each other’s best friends. Isn’t that an ultimate love story?

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com. Do return tomorrow to All Things Fulfilling.

Youth and Philanthrophy

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Children are great imitators. So give them something great to imitate.– Barbara Bush

How do you teach young children to value what is inside of them selves rather than material objects?

colors of cakeSome parents are teaching their children the importance of giving to others by throwing “no gift birthday parties.” There is still cake and ice cream, balloons, games and other makings for a day of celebration, but the guests are asked to bring a donation, rather than a toy.

The birthday boy or girl gets to decide where the donations are sent. It is important that the child is in on the decision-making process so they understand where the money is going. The cause should be something the child is excited about, so they feel fulfillment in the giving.

How do you explain “no gift birthdays” to your children without them being resentful? Sometimes it is not very hard, children sometimes “get it” if they can relate to the cause.  Make a Wish Foundation is just one suggestion to partner with. There are many other worthy foundations also. http://wish.org/ways-to-help.

What are your thoughts? Do you think “no gift birthdays” would help instill values in your children – a sense of what really matters?

This Thoughtful Thursday’s blog is brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com. See you on Friday on All Things Fulfilling.

 

Fulfillment of Career Dreams

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Everything worthwhile in life is work.  But if it puts a smile on your face, it doesn’t feel like work. ~ Unknown

world university games 2013 ItalyI am very excited for my husband! He has an opportunity coming up that not many in his profession get to experience. He was just selected to be one of the ski coaches at The World University Games in Trentino, Italy. These are the Olympic Games for college students. Coaches and athletes from all over the world will be attending!

He is deserving of it because over the years he has used his great motivational skills in helping young people to understand that there is value in working hard. His message to his athletes is that even if you don’t come home with top prize, knowing that you did your best there is great reward in that – called personal fulfillment. His universe, outside of his family, has been the world of ski racing. He would say “His career of working with very high-level performance athletes has been very fulfilling.” I can not imagine him doing anything else for a lifetime career.

ski racerPeople think that coaching ski racers is all glamour and fun. Hardly! Have you ever tried standing out on a mountain, at a high elevation where the air is thin, in blinding snowstorms day after day with your hands and feet so frozen that your toe nails fall off at the end of the winter season? Or have you tried driving thousands and thousands miles each winter in a van packed with athletes and gear after a long day on the mountain, on roads so treacherous that if you blink at the wrong time you’ll end up in a ditch or worse? That’s exhausting and a lot of responsibility.

The World University Games officially kick off November 9th, and guess who will be lighting the torch? Pope Francis! To read more about the World University Games, please visit this website. http://www.wugusa.com/pope-francis-will-trentinos-torch/.

Congratulations, Terry! You will represent ColoradoMountainCollege with honor, as well as your colleagues – the other coaches in your profession. Enjoy it. It’s your reward for all the years of your service to a demanding profession.

Return to All Things Fulfilling tomorrow. The blog of www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.