10 things I would like to remember about my first 35 years of life on Earth

So this is my 100th post! To celebrate I have put together 10 lessons that I would like to remember moving forward in this life.

1. Change is inevitable. It is natural and we all need it, whether or not we want it.

2. Sometimes life is disappointing. That is alright, it just means that there is something better out there for you; you just do not know it yet. I believe it was the Dalai Lama who said,"Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke luck".

3. This kind of goes along with the idea above; if you really need something, the Universe will send it your way. Whether it is positive or negative, there is joy to be had or a lesson to be learned.

4. Life can be tough. But if you keep smiling and laughing then it does not seem so harsh. Always try to see the positive in the negative. Always!

5. God's ultimate gift comes in the form of a child.

6. Family is where it is at; bio and friend-family. Kinship is not just defined by science; it is a state of mind and can be defined by action.

7.  Let it go. Breathe. Meditate. Everything is going to be alright. If you do not let go of negative things it will effect your physical health.

8. We are all here for a reason. We each have our own gift to share with the world. 

9.  There is something much bigger than us, bigger than the Earth, bigger than the solar system and that is spirituality. We are not just a body with a mind, we are spirit too. Christian, Catholic, Buddhism, Muslim...whatever that looks like for you. "The whole is more than the sum of its parts". ~Aristotle

10. Lat, but probably the most important...You are the only one who can create your happiness, prosperity and success. It is all about perception. Change the way you look at something and that thing will change. Find the lesson in the negative things and find joy in the positive things and all will be well.

 

Love and light my friends! Thanks for reading :)

Meet my little friend, Ramsay...it has been a strange week.

So much for posting every other day, at this point in time a weekly post may be all you get ;) This week was challenging. Allergies started, which has my family hacking and blowing and irritable. More so it has triggered some Ramsay Hunt symptoms for myself.

August 2010 I was diagnosed with the rare syndrome, Ramsay Hunt. The easy explanation is that it is shingles in the cranium and effects the facial nerves causing symptoms that are similar to Bell's Palsy. Once the sores erupt they are accompanied by a very high fever, severe pain to the effected side of the head and vertigo. If not treated then nerve damage sets in causing facial drooping among other weird symptoms.

Not much is known about this syndrome, other than it exists, how to treat it and how to deal with it, as it really never goes away and can fester at any time. If you have ever had the chicken pox then you can get it. Some say that the new chicken pox vaccine can prevent it but given how the syndrome operates that does not make sense to me. Usually times of stress or when your immune system is down is when you get an outbreak. Not all symptoms are the same for everyone.

I belong to www.ramsayhunt.org, a place for those effected to gather and chat. We are of all ages, all backgrounds and all deal with a different set of things. Some have recovered and deal with it mildly every so often, some never recovered and deal with the pain and nerve damage daily. We are hard working, life stressing people. Through this organization I have learned that stress is a major contributor and that taking good care of yourself is key.

My story is that of a miracle as I did not have a primary care doctor at the time and was diagnosed in the hospital ER (after first receiving the wrong diagnosis, which is common). This made it very hard to get a referring doctor to refer me to a specialist. Luckily, I know a person who pulled some strings and got me into the specialist. Which I am forever grateful for! God was by my side during this time, no doubt...absolutely, NO DOUBT!

So, for me, this time the vertigo is back, blurred vision to the right side, ringing/muffled sound in the ear, sensitivity to light, confusion/disoriented, heart palpitations and lethargy. This has made it hard for me to get motivated to walk or do anything for that matter; however, I did manage to get out there four of the seven days this week. So, moral of this story is that I am a fighter so please don't pity me...most of us have some health issue we are dealing with; mine is just rare and weird. Kinda like me!

I forgot my camera on one of the walks, can you believe it? I felt naked but it was nice to just be!

Saturday- The in-laws came up and we walked to the pond. Good times, good times!

Spring is on the way!

Blossoms

 Sunday - Pup and I went by ourselves at around sunset.

I love this part of the trail, it glows when the sun hits it just right. This picture does no justice to the intensity of this experience.

Sunday Sunset

Monday - No walk, too busy!

Tuesday - Today was the day to drop off the heart monitor I had been wearing for two weeks. We are waiting the results and I will post about the experience once we have the results. I have a feeling that the heart palpitations are associated with the other symptoms I am having as I had them with Ramsay before. Pup and I walked and enjoyed the calm before the storm.

Yep, them are clouds!

 Wednesday - No walk, I did not have the gumption to do it.

Alyssa did find a heart shaped potato chip though. Pretty cool!

 Thursday - Forgot the camera! Oops! Walked the usual trail and took the BIG hill! Love the BIG hill!

Friday - No walk, no gumption, lots of work.

So today, I feel a little better. Still sensitive to light, muffled hearing and a little disoriented/scattered. Hopefully, I can get back in to the swing of things this week.

Love and Light my friends!

Walk a little here, walk a little there...must reassess and keep going!

I think this blog and my goal of walking needs to be reassessed. While walking daily is still ideal, it is not realistic some weeks with all that needs to be done. Monday's, forget it! I tried to fit in a walk with Pup while my daughter was at dance lessons this last Monday but Pup is not comfortable around cars, streets, etc. and it was not enjoyable. Neither of us got any good exercise. So, I am just going to forget Monday's and try to walk at least 6 times during the week.

Also, the same is true for finding time to blog about this adventure. I will try to continue to post daily, or ever other day but some weeks it just might not happen; like this week. Do know that I be walking, though!

Sunday- Yep, I am about a week behind ALWAYS! I am finding that Sunday walks are among my favorite because my husband usually comes with us and we are all together. These walks are not as stressed as the walks with just us girls. Pup and daughter listen better, we find lots of treasures and have a lot of fun. We took the girls over to my Mom's house and walked on the Litton trails. I did not know that they linked up with the trails at the High School and could lead to Ridge Road but I do now!

Before we even started the walk, my daughter found this heart! It is on a plum tree where a leaf or branch used to be.

Litton Trail ends up behind NU, who knew! Not me and I have been living here for 24 years and was very familiar with the trails when I was in school.

My daughter found a hide out!

NU has a course along the trails with a giant set of Monkey Bars...could not keep my Monkey off of them!

Tuesday - My daughter asked for us to wait until after school to walk so we did. Took the usual route by our house.

Grass Valley Landscape, my new sunset spot that does not have poison oak ;)

Wednesday- We did not take a walk but Pup needed some exercise so I played a long game of "chase me and if you get the bone we can play catch". Pup likes to keep her toys from us, according to the family that had her before us, Pup has always played that game.

Thursday- Walks alone is probably my most-est favorite me time. While I do enjoy company on walks, it is the walks that I take alone that really help me stay focused and grounded. I feel so good after an alone walk. On this particular day we went to the trails at the end of Gold Hill Drive. These are such nice trails, full of wild life and respectful people. For most of the walk I listened to an Owl hooting away and came across a very talkative Crow. We will be back to this trail :)

Beautiful day for me time!

It is so hard to get a picture of my Pup when she is not moving, I will take the puppy love though :)

Friday - Took the usual trail by our house, Nana was with us.

I love where I live!

So today is Saturday, filled with the unknown. I do know there will be a walk at some point, a little house chores and a whole lotta love!

Peace, love and light my friends!

We needed this!

Just me, Pup and woods...nothing but forest ♥

I really pushed myself today. So hard I found my self grunting and moaning and screaming! My dog is such an inspiration for me, I sware!

We took the big hill at the end of the walk today, rather than at the begining. Holy cow, I felt the burn and it felt good ;)

In the beginning of the hill I could not get Pup to slow down and go my pace. She was a consistent 8 feet ahead of me until she reached the top and stopped. I think that she knew I was gonna leash her and have her help me up the hill, smarty pants! Towards the end she decided to come down and leash up. She guided me the rest of the way and made me push myself as I did not want to tug her to hard; hence the screaming at the top of the hill, I thought I was gonna keel over.

When we got home I got caught up on all of the tummy exercises for Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday of  Dr. Oz's 7 Day Belly Workout. My lower back is popping and tender on some of them, but I am hoping that will all change as weight is lost.

I made an appointment to get the heart monitor put on next week. I am nervous, but hopeful that all I need to do is get healthier and that there is nothing wrong. Time shall tell...

Love and light and thank you so much for reading! I want you to know I appreciate it!

Another day, another walk :)

4:10 pm - Pup and I just got done with our daily walk. Took a different route today; down hill on the way there and all up hill on the way back. Seconds after I wondered if I was gonna see any hearts today, I saw some! I have not done Dr. Oz's 7 Day Belly Workout yet, but will be doing it soon!

Me and pup

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Thank you for reading!

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Love and light my friends :)