Last spring I wrote a series exploring the connection between positive thinking and healing. It is true that positive thinking isn’t a reliable cure for illness; however, there are huge emotional benefits that come from training yourself to find the bright side in any situation. If you are ready to step into the…
Living Chronic Resilience
We have arrived, at last, at last, with our final post in our series on positive thinking. We began with where the modern positive thinking movement came from, followed that with the scientific and medical explorations around positive thinking, took a detour into my personal struggles with positive thinking, discussed…
Peaceful Mind – Peaceful Body
As part of our series on positive thinking, last week we asked the question, “Can the mind heal the body?” The answer was twofold. The last post discussed the studies that affirm the “no” response. This week we’ll look at the “yes” side of the equation and discover the ways…
Can the mind heal the body?
We’ve almost made it. This is the third to last post in our series on positive thinking. This is also the first part of the answer to the BIG question…can the mind heal the body? If this is the first post you’ve landed at, catch up with us. Here are…
Kidney Transplant: Part 1
It is hard to fully grasp what has happened in our lives. On October 7th, my husband, Phillip, donated his right kidney to me. Since surgery, I have been laying low and healing: no blogging and no internet, lots of naps and nourishing food. It is fabulous – I highly…
The Comparison Trap
I recently had the pleasure of talking with the insightful Joan Friedlander, author of Business from Bed: The 6 Step Plan to Get Yourself Working Again After a Health Crisis. She has written a wonderful guide to creating a business or career that is in alignment with your values and…
How We are Preparing for Surgery
On our flight back from the last book tour stop in Spokane, Phillip and I made an exhaustive list of things we wanted to get done before the transplant. It is unique that we will both be in surgery, and we wanted to have our home and lives a well…
Chronic Illness and Scaling Back
The time came last week for me to begin temporarily scaling back. This is the most important thing you can do to preserve and honor your health when you’re hitting a rough patch or going through a flare-up. This is also the hardest thing for driven, goal oriented individuals like…
Choosing Surrender
I met a woman a few months ago who’d had knee replacement surgery. She said that she tried everything under the sun to avoid surgery – all of the woo-woo and not-so-woo-woo stuff. She finally relented to the operation when she could not longer walk. Before she spoke they showed…
Ashley, who inspires you to be chronically resilient?
Ashley Jenkins is our final Chronic Resilience contest honoree. We were very moved by Ashley’s tribute which demonstrates how important it is to share our stories and connect. Take it away Ashley… I consider myself an extremely lucky individual; yes, I suffer from a horrible disease known as Gastroparesis, but…