Tag: health

2021: HOPE, HEALTH, & HAPPINESS

karenringalls9 Comments

Hope is wanting something to happen, an expectation. If we use it in a prayerful, spiritual way it is more empowering. When Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr said we must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope it was a deep and well-intended prayer.

It is HEALTH that is real wealth, not pieces of gold and silver. (Mahatma Gandhi). Health is a state of being free from physical or mental illness or injury. There is a definite relationship between one’s sense of well-being and his/her’s physical and mental health.

Your health is what you make of it. Everything you do and think either adds to the vitality, energy and spirit you possess or takes away from it. (Ann Wigmore) We are what we think.

Happiness is a state of contentment or satisfaction; it is something we do, are grateful for, or fulfills a wish or desire. We will have true happiness when we enjoy the journey of one’s life rather than the destination.

Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. (Joseph Addison)

As we celebrate the New Year instead of making the typical resolutions (lose weight, exercise more, get a new job, etc.), let’s deeply and truly look at how we live. How do we use and live the words hope, health, and happiness?

We can make 2021 and the world better by following the words of this quote: He who has health, has hope; and he who has hope has everything. (Thomas Carlyle)

DECISIONS

karenringalls21 Comments

 

SOME DECISIONS COME QUICKLY AND EASILY. OTHER DECISIONS REQUIRE MORE THOUGHT, PRAYER, AND ADVICE.

“ENDINGS MUST COME BEFORE NEW BEGINNINGS”

HEALTH:

The important lesson from the Coronavirus pandemic is: those who are healthy (no matter the age) are more likely to recover from the virus. Taking care of our bodies throughout our lives helps to prevent diabetes, heart disease, certain cancers, high blood pressure, and lung issues.

Obesity is related to all the health concerns mentioned above. Lack of exercise is related to most of them. Smoking, vaping or chewing tobacco and excessive alcoholic intake harms every organ of the body. Emotionally and mentally we are healthier when we exercise, eat right, be positive, and meditate or pray on a regular basis.

DECISION: Make a commitment to become a healthier individual.

SOCIAL:

Our world is now in a time of new beginnings. The Coronavirus has impacted each person’s life, the world economy has changed, and there is a new sense of fear of the unknown, some anger, and also a new one-ness. More kindness and love is shared, and a philosophy of we will get through this together prevails. I am optimistic that our future will be better.

There is more awareness of needs in our world and how we can respond to them. Food banks, blood donations, fixing meals for others, providing transportation, giving unused telephones, computers or tablets to those without, and check on your neighbors.

DECISION: Choose at least one way you can help another person and act upon it with love in your heart.

BOOKS:

Author, Michael J. Giusti wrote a book titled, What to do When the Wheels Come Off. His cleverly written short proverbs bring humor and insight into the live of a disabled person and there are lessons for all of us in this short and easy-to-read book.

https://www.amazon.com/What-When-Wheels-Come-Off/dp/0692684220

DECISION: Learn from others how to overcome challenges.

When we make a decision we make the choice to take a chance and thereby create a change. When we learn and become better people from our decisions, then life is richer. Our health issues, the present pandemic, and how we respond to life’s challenges are all based on the decisions we make.

TEAL, TRAVEL, TIME

karenringalls6 Comments

Books take me to places imaginary and real. To promote awareness, I wear ribbons and bracelets of teal. Time is ever-changing. It challenges me to live with each day with zeal. (Karen Ingalls. 2019)

Teal is the color for ovarian cancer just as pink is the color for breast cancer, and purple for all cancers. Cancer ribbons all began with the song, Tie a Yellow Ribbon by the Old Oak Tree popularized by Tony Orlando in the 1970s. The yellow ribbon was started by Penelope Laingen, who tied a yellow ribbon around an oak tree as a symbolic act for the return of her husband who was an Iranian hostage. In 1992, the first health ribbon introduced was a red ribbon symbolizing AIDs, and then in that same year, a pink ribbon for breast cancer was promoted by the Susan B. Komen organization. The teal ribbon is for ovarian cancer.

Why are the many ribbons important and so popular? For the simple reason, they bring awareness about any health or social issue. Societies advance, treatments and cures for diseases are researched, laws are passed to protect, funds are raised, and people are informed.

Thoughts of what to do with time remaining became known as the bucket list. It was popularized in a movie starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. Once I came to the acceptance part of my cancer diagnosis, my husband and I put together our bucket list.

We have done a lot of traveling: Costa Rica, Caribbean cruises, Great Britain, a river cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest, France, Spain, Alaska, Hawaii, and now to Italy for three weeks. We can check that off of our bucket list!

I have been blessed to live 78 years which equals 28,000+ days, 683,000+ hours, and 40, 996, 800+ minutes. I look back at how I have lived these 78 years and I look forward to each moment I have in the future. The clock never stops ticking, but we choose how to live each moment. Hopefully, we will fill each minute with a purpose such as supporting an important cause, follow our dreams and passions and make each moment count.

Love of self and others is an important key for any health or social issue. Having dreams and pursuing them fills one’s life with joy and fond memories. My motto: Live the moment!

STORMS: NATURE, HEALTH, LIFE

karenringalls8 Comments

There are three types of storms I have faced. For the past week, I have been facing the potential life-threatening threat from Hurricane Dorian. As I write this, the eye of the storm is 145 miles east of us and 100 miles east of Daytona Beach. We will not know the effects of it until the sun comes up, and it has moved further north.

A different storm has come into my life three times: ovarian cancer. September is National Ovarian Cancer Month so it is appropriate for me to promote awareness which can be diagnosed in any female of any age IF she has ovaries: reported cases of infants, preteens, teenagers, young and old women.

Know the symptoms: bloating, abdominal or pelvic pain, change in bowels or urine, change in appetite, extreme fatigue, painful intercourse to name a few. Listen to your body and go see your gynecologist.

My award-winning book, Outshine is about the first few years of my journey with ovarian cancer. It is a book for anyone who is facing the storm of any cancer or life-threatening illness. It has been called a book of hope and inspiration. The theme of the book is the beauty of the soul, the real me and the real you, outshine the effects of cancer, chemotherapy, and radiation.

Available at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Outshine-Ovarian-Cancer-Karen-Ingalls
All proceeds go to ovarian cancer research.

Storms of life can and will be a part of anyone’s life. Sometimes the storms are reflections of how we live or think about ourselves, personal events, and our faith. In the book Keep Yourself Full by Yecheilyah Ysrayl, the reader learns ways to be more contented, stronger, and wiser. Its message is self-love. This is a book that can help anyone face their personal storms.

Available at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Keep-Yourself-Full-practical-restoring

My prayers are for all those who suffered from Hurricane Dorian, especially in the Bahamas. I am grateful for what I have learned and the people I have met through my eleven years of living with ovarian cancer. I applaud Ms. Ysrayl for writing about how she continues to rise above her personal storms.