My name is Catherine Morgan, I'm a writer, nurse, and mother. This is a blog about women's issues, health & wellness, inspirational thoughts, and other stuff too. If you like this blog, you will love BlogHer.com where I am also a contributing editor for Health & Wellness.
Find out all the places I blog at by going to catherine-morgan.com.
I came across this article today and I thought it would be something to share with all of you. These are great ideas on ways that you can spread random acts of kindness, and make a positive difference in someones life. Sometimes, the smallest kind gesture, can be what turns around someones day. Not only does your kindness resonate with the person you have been kind to, but the more you do this, the more you change your own personal energy, and in-turn bring more kindness and kind people into your own life. Try it for a week and see if you notice a difference. Be an angel in someones life today, and give them the gift of kindness.
CHRONIC ILLNESS AND DEPRESSION — What came first? – by Catherine Morgan
If you found out you had Diabetes and became depressed, the doctor would tell you that it is normal to feel depressed after a diagnosis such as this. And the doctor would be correct. Chronic illness changes your life, it is scary, it is frustrating, and yes it can also be very depressing. And, there is no shame in admitting that you are depressed, there are many things your doctor can do to help you with this problem.
Just about every person that suffers from a chronic illness will also suffer in some way with depression. If you are diagnosed with Lupus, or MS, or cancer, or any other chronic medical condition, your doctor will be totally understanding when you come to him with your feelings of depression, as he should be. And treating your depression should be an important part of the overall treatment of your illness.
It would be virtually unheard of for a doctor to suggest that a persons depression was the cause of their Lupus, or the cause of their MS, or the cause of their cancer. But, in the case of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, a condition that the CDC considers to be just as devastating as these other chronic illnesses, doctors will often insist that the depression is causing the disease, and not the other way around.
I’m under another tornado Watch, and Alabama has just had a deadly tornado hit them. So, I thought I would put my post about donating to the Red Cross (or any organization that will help the tornado victims), up again for today. Many people have died today, more are still trapped, even more injured, and many homeless. They need our help and our prayers.
How We Can Empower Our Children By Empowering Ourselves — by Catherine Morgan
I wanted to write a post about children today, but I wasn’t sure how to start it. Then I remembered how about 12 years ago (shortly after I had my second child), I was driving to my job, and I heard a song on the radio that really resonated with me. The song was called “The Greatest Love Of All – by Whitney Houston”. At the time, it made me feel like I finally understood what my purpose was in life, and I felt empowered by it. I needed to become strong, and confident, and fearless. I needed to be empowered enough to step out of my comfort zone, and become the women I was meant to be. I needed to become the kind of person that I wanted my children to become. Let me share some of those thoughts with you now, and at the end of this post you can listen to the song and see if it doesn’t ring true for you as well.
IN THE END, 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?
FOUR STEPS TO HELP YOU SOLVE YOUR PROBLEMS — by Catherine Morgan
We all carry around stress and worries about problems in our lives, some of us more than others. If you are one of those people that can’t stop worrying about all the problems in your life, then this article is for you. Worrying about our problems only adds to our problems, and no amount of worrying about a situation is going to make it better. Letting go of negative thoughts and worries is an important step in our overall happiness. Hopefully these steps can help you get passed some of the problems that have been bothering you, and allow you to let go of the negative thoughts that block you from your true happiness.
WHAT ARE LIFE’S GREATEST LESSONS? — by Catherine Morgan
“When we begin to take our failures non-seriously, it means we are ceasing to be afraid of them. It is of immense importance to learn to laugh at ourselves” — Katherine Mansfield
What I think this quote is saying, is that the importance of failures in our lives, will only be revealed to us, once we stop looking at them as failures. What we learn from our so-called “failures”, are usually the greatest lessons in our lives, and we need to open our eyes so we can see that.
[The drugmaker had been criticized by parents and doctors’ groups for quietly funding the campaign via a third party to require 11- and 12-year-old girls get the three-dose vaccine in order to attend school.] — see full article at MSNBC
Merck launched Gardasil, the first vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, in June.
Sales totaled $255 million through the end of 2006, according to Merck.
Living In The Present Moment — by Catherine Morgan
Are you only concerned with adding days to your life, and forgetting to add life to your days? If so, you are not alone. This is a problem many of us have, and the reason we should all try to make a conscious effort, to live in the present moment.
When we are living in the moment, we are totally immersed in what we are doing. I’m not suggesting in any way, that we should attempt to live in the moment 100% of the time, as much as it would be great if we could, it’s just not practical. To do that, we would be setting ourselves up for failure. What I want you to do, is just make an “attempt” at living in the present moment, this is a positive start, and in the right direction. So, how can you start? Well, you start with “awareness”.
If You Want To Attract Love, Be A Loving Person — by Catherine Morgan
Did you ever notice that angry people tend to attract other angry people? That greedy people, enjoy the company of other greedy people? Just like we choose to associate with people in our lives that have similar interests as we do, we are also unconsciously choosing people that are putting out that same emotional “frequency” as we do.
So, who cares? Well, you should. That is; if you are interested in “attracting” people into your life that are kind, caring, and loving, and not angry, bitter, and hateful.
It’s all about awareness. If you are attracting negative people into your life, it is most likely that you are putting out negative “energy”, and you are most likely doing that because you are feeling negative “emotions”. If you are aware of that, you can work on putting out more positive energy, by choosing to feel more positive emotions. It is really very simple.
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.
How do you know if you are just “blue”, or you are really suffering from depression? The following is from an article found at www.uihealthcare.com. Depression is nothing to be ashamed about, all of us will feel depressed at some or many points in our lives, and knowing when to seek professional help, can be what saves your own life, or someone you know. As with everything in life, being “aware”, is the first step in conquering the problem. This article has a lot of valuable information, in educating poeple about depression, and the different types of depression.
Tips for Happiness in Daily Life — by Remez Sasson
Daily life can be made happier. It is a matter of choice. It is our attitude that makes us feel happy or unhappy. It is true, we meet all kinds of situations during the day, and some of them may not be conductive to happiness. We can choose to keep thinking about the unhappy events, and we can choose to refuse to think about them, and instead, relish the happy moments. All of us constantly go through various situations and circumstances, but we do not have to let them influence our reactions and feelings.
This is an e-mail that was sent to me a few months ago, since it still applies, and is important for all women to know, I decided to post it on this site.
Because of recent abductions, in daylight hours,refresh yourself of these things to do in an emergency situation…
Choosy moms confide their strange new ways of thinking in people who make them feel safe. They are especially choosy when it comes to medical professionals and friends. They also cultivate with spouses a milieu in which they don’t feel overexposed or vulnerable.
The following ideas are taken from Louise L. Hay’s book, Empowering Women, Every Woman’s Guide to Successful Living. Hay is the author of 18 books, including You Can Heal Your Life.
Less than twenty-four hours ago, I was sitting at this computer, and working on a post for my blog, when that annoying sound came over the television. You know the one, the….this is a test of the emergency broadcast system. However, this time it wasn’t a test, it was a voice notifying the people of my county that a tornado was being tracked, and we should go to the safest area of our house. I quickly through some pillows and blankets into my closet (in the middle of the house, the safest place we have), woke my kids, got our cat and our puppy, and huddled in the closet, off and on for the next two hours. At 2:30am, the local news was saying that the threat was over, but we all ended up sleeping in the same bedroom just in case. It turned out, shortly after we went to sleep, more tornado warnings were issued, and a deadly tornado came true Central Florida. I began getting concerned phone calls from family and friends at about 9:30am, that was when I first learned how bad the tornadoes had been, and how close we had come to losing our home and possibly our lives.
KEEPING A PERSONAL MEDICAL JOURNAL — by Catherine Morgan
Whether you are suffering from a chronic illness, pregnant, or just getting older. Keeping a personal medical journal, is important, and can really come in handy. Some may want to do this on a weekly or monthly basis, others on a daily basis, this will depend on the severity of your health issues.
3 TIPS TO BE THE BEST MOM YOU CAN BE — by Catherine Morgan
Being a good mother isn’t always about the kids. A “stressed-out” mother will find it very hard to be a good mother. No matter how much you love your kids, when you are stressed, it is difficult to be the best mother you can be. So, what can you do?
No matter what the age of your child, one or forty-one; follow these tips, and be the best mother you can be. Just remember, that being the best you can be, does not mean you have to be perfect. I will go as far as saying that; if you are trying to be perfect, you are most likely not being the best mother you can be. With that said, here are the three steps, that will help you be the best mom you can be.
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